Gremory's Battle-Maniac Dragon Emperor
by Rhongomyniad Alter
Summary: An unfortunate encounter with a crow ends with a dragon unknowing of his value being taken in by a princess, a sadist, a cat and a prince. It's a shame he's not actually a people person. Even more of a shame that they won't leave him alone despite that.
1. Disappointing Days and Dying

**BEEP BEEP BEEP**

 **BEEP BEEP BEEP**

 **BEEP BEEP BE-**

"Really have to set that damn alarm to something else," a young man groaned from underneath his covers, arm outstretched and reaching out to turn off his alarm clock. How tempting it would be to just lay in bed, not even bothering to go to school today. Or better yet, skip school and trudge around his stomping grounds, see if anyone or anything new and worthwhile was around. Not an option though, Shitori would just find him the next day and give him trouble for it if he skipped. God only knows the amount of shit he'd get if the StuCo President got to snooping around and found out what he did in his downtime. "Go to school, have some fun when it's done," he told himself before peeling back the covers, slowly dragging himself out of bed and towards his bathroom. Brush teeth, shower, put on the required school uniform, make breakfast and brace himself for another boring day at Kuoh Academy, the usual morning ritual.

45 minutes later a significantly more awake teenager slipped on his brown dress shoes to finish his uniform and sighed, looking back at the empty house. "I'm heading out," he said to no one, grabbing his bag and opening the door to head out into the world.

* * *

"Yukimura-kun, we're heading to karaoke after class. Do you want to come along?"

An invitation to hang out? He hadn't received one of those in a while. He turned towards the speaker, a girl in his class that he barely paid attention to. Though to be fair, he paid attention to pretty much nobody in his class, barely remembering their names some days. That he remembered hers at all was saying something, never mind the fact that they somewhat regularly spoke to each other. Black hair done up in twintails long enough to go down to her slim waist, pale fair skin, red eyes, a cute face and a nice figure wrapped up in the standard Kuoh Academy female uniform. She wore an optimistic expression, probably hoping she'd be the one of the few to get him to say yes after an almost infamous track record of refusals.

"Sorry, Kutaragi-san. I was planning on studying today. Thank you for the invitation though. Maybe next time?" And just like that, the optimistic expression became one of disappointment. Shame too, any other day and he might have taken her up on the offer. Not today though. That familiar burning feeling he felt underneath his skin was starting to make itself known. He had no time for any extracurricular activities. Alright, that was technically untrue. He had time for one but it wasn't one he'd be inviting any classmates too anytime soon.

"You always say that. Studying all the time, doing classwork during lunch while eating alone, never really hanging out with anyone, you're wasting your youth, you know!" she finished with a frown, hands on her hips.

What a troublesome girl. If she could tell he wasn't being truthful about his intention to study couldn't she at least grasp that maybe he had something better to do? Well, whatever. He had already decided what he was doing today and there was nothing that could dissuade him. But appearances must be kept after all, so he put on as charming of a smile as he could muster before speaking, trying to let her down as gently as possible. "I know, I know. I'm just thinking about my future, okay? Next time, I promise." He smiled a bit inside as he saw her cheeks flush before she sighed.

"Fine, but I won't let you get out of it next time, no matter what. Don't forget that, Yukimura Shiki!" she finished with a smile before walking away, appeased by his promise of a "next time". And with that, his evening was no longer in danger. He thanked her once more before grabbing his belongings and doing his best to not just rush out of the classroom before anyone else could try to invite him to some other get-together.

* * *

 ** _CRUNCH_**

"FUCK! You little fucking brat, I'll kill you!"

"Yeah, yeah, "I'll kill you", "you're dead", can you third-rates get some new lines if you have to open your stupid mouths? Or should I break those too so I don't have to hear your squawking?"

A young man stood proudly in front of three would-be gangsters in a narrow alleyway, one of which he had just knocked flat on his ass. He had to travel pretty far downtown in Kuoh Town to find someone that looked like they could be goaded into a fight and he thought himself lucky when he came across three fairly tough-looking guys. 'Shame they're complete garbage. All flash, no substance. Same shit, different day.' Shiki thought to himself as he watched the older man rise to his feet. Looking at the man's face he didn't even bother to hold back a smirk. Broken nose, blood pouring from his nostrils, eyes wide with rage, the picture perfect image of a man defeated. 'Time to end it and go home. This wasn't much fun at all.'

"Your mother's not going to recognize your fucking face when I'm done with you!" the thug screamed before charging, hands balled into fists and ready to lay into the "brat" standing in front of him. A rush forward, no thinking, no planning, just pure burning anger and a need to rearrange the face of the kid that was currently beating his ass. He didn't get very far, a clumsy punch thrown met with a blazing fast counter to his temple and he was out like a light, dropping like a sack of bricks onto the street pavement. He hadn't even had a chance to dodge, one second the brat's fists were resting at his sides and the next all he knew was blissful unconsciousness.

"Mm, that was some nice feedback from that last hit. I was wrong about you, trash. You were good for one thing at least." the young man gloated over his unconscious opponent, though to call him an "opponent" would be a stretch. "Unwitting punching bag" would be a better choice of words. "Oi, Idiots 1 and 2 in the back!" Shiki barked at the two men watching in a mixture of surprise, fear, and awe as their leader went down, almost laughing when the duo turned to him and looked ready to run for it. "Grab your friend and leave. I'm not interested in any of you anymore." When they hurried to follow his orders he actually did laugh, even more so when they left and one of them yelled that they "wouldn't forget this!"

"Yeah, whatever. Do your best to remember it, losers. Don't ever forget it because God knows I will. What a boring fuckin' scrap." Shiki muttered bitterly to himself, running a hand through his messy brown hair out of frustration. "I go through all the effort to run home and change out of my school uniform to be inconspicuous, I walk all the way to one of the rougher parts of town and what's my reward? What do I get out of it? A shit fight! I looked forward to this all day too!" he finished angrily, kicking a trash can over before stomping out of the alleyway in the opposite direction the three wannabe gangsters left. No one gave him a second glance and it was fortunate they didn't, his mood had worsened enough already and he didn't trust himself not to bite the head off of anyone that looked at him funny on his trek back home.

'Should have just fought all three of those jack-offs at the same time. Might've at least made me work for it a bit more.' he thought, stopping in front of a convenience store. 'Might as well pick up something for dinner, I don't feel like cooking tonight. Mood's already shit, I don't need burnt food on top of it.' Stepping forward and through the parting automatic doors, he entered the shop and made a beeline for the frozen foods aisle.

Wrenching open the door to one of the freezer cases with more force than necessary he grabbed whatever caught his eye and threw it into the basket he picked up at the entrance. Fried chicken, onigiri, fried rice, he didn't pay it much mind, more preoccupied with his own thoughts than giving attention to what he'd be eating for dinner. 'At this rate I oughta just try starting shit outside of of Kuoh again. Starting to feel like there's nobody left in this town I haven't beat.' Closing the door shut, he turned and began his walk to the register. 'Maybe this Sunday? I don't have anything planned anyway, could at least give it a shot.' Standing in front of the checkout counter he began pulling his dinners out of the basket, passing them to the uninterested clerk to scan and bag them. 'If nothing else it gives me a reason to get out of Kuoh.' he thought before reaching down and grabbing two chocolate bars off one of the counter's shelves, putting one on the countertop and letting the cashier know he was buying two before using his teeth to rip the wrapping off of the one he held onto and taking a bite out of it. The familiar taste on his tongue always brought a smile to his face no matter how shit the mood. Chocolate truly was a gift.

One cash transaction and a mumbled thank you through a mouthful of chocolate later and he was out, plastic bag in hand. Unfortunately before he could continue his walk home in a slightly calmer state of mind he was approached by what he could only describe as one of the weirder girls he had ever seen. Short brown hair with two symmetrical tufts on the left and right sides, almost resembling wings, sharp gray eyes with ruby red lipstick. Her outfit was just as weird, a dress having some sort of bat theme or motif to it. Before he could even ask her what she wanted she offered him a flyer, likely an advertisement to wherever she worked. He took it unthinkingly and would have offered a half-hearted thanks in exchange if she hadn't just smiled and walked away immediately after he took it.

'This town's full of weird people, swear to God. I mean, not like I can talk but still. At least she was cute.' Shiki thought as he turned over the piece of paper in his hands. "We grant your wish!" stamped above some weird occult-looking circle, likely some sort of business icon, logo or form of branding. 'Yeah right, what a load of shit. You can't make my wish come true any more than anybody else in this town, lady.' Resolving to just throw the flyer away when he got home, he shoved it in the plastic bag containing his dinner and continued on walking. 'And that's lookin' less and less likely by the day.'

* * *

'It's days like this that make life feel so… boring.' Shiki thought to himself morosely as he walked across the pedestrian overpass on his way home. 'Wake up, go to school, work hard, try and find some fun, be disappointed, go home. Is this what the rest of the year's gonna be like? Next year? After I graduate, until I'm a full-fledged "adult" and working some boring job I hate just to get by?' He hoped not. Winding up a salaryman, dressed in some ridiculous suit and tie, going to work stuffed in a train car with a bunch of others just like him, slowly working himself to death every day just to carve out some meager existence for himself. No, not him. Never him. He had enough experience with that sort of life from his parents and he'd be damned if he went down that road. 'Maybe I'll give the pro fighting scenes a shot. There's definitely a higher level of talent there than running the streets. Might be exciting.' So caught up in his thoughts about his future that he didn't notice a girl calling out to him. It was only when she raised her voice that he finally snapped out of it.

"YUKIMURA-KUN!"

Shiki spun around on the balls of his feet, not recognizing the voice and cursing himself for being so in his own head that someone could so easily sneak up behind him. He was met with the sight of a stunning girl, almost breathtaking with the setting sun behind her. Jet black hair long enough to reach her waist, wide and innocent violet eyes, a hint of a blush on her cheeks, mouth set in a bright smile from finally getting the boy's attention. A dark red jacket over a white undershirt with a bow and a green skirt. The chest area of her jacket in particular stretching to accommodate her more than generous assets. 'There has got to be something in this town's water that makes those that huge.' he thought idly, eyes falling to the young woman's breasts before he snapped them back up to her face. He didn't need the trouble that came along with being caught staring, even if chest was enormous. He did note that he hadn't seen this girl's uniform before but wrote it off as her being from a school he was unacquainted with. "Hello. Do I know you?" He replied, trying to dredge up as much politeness as he could despite his dismal mood.

"U-um, no, you don't. But you're Yukimura Shiki, from Kuoh Academy, aren't you?" Red flags, red flags everywhere. Complete stranger walks up to him, seemingly seeking him out, knowing what he looked like, his name, his school and quite possibly his route home. He gave a cautious nod, careful to not the polite smile slip from his face as he kept a careful eye on this girl. She sighed and smiled a bit more, looking relieved. "Thank goodness. My name is Amano Yuuma and I-I was just wondering if you were seeing anyone?" the girl finished a bit loudly, looking embarrassed.

'Don't be a stalker, don't be a stalker, don't be a stalker. Fuckin' hell, is this some sort of divine punishment for complaining about my awful day?!' Shiki screamed internally. Oh how he'd love to just cut this conversation now and run for it. This Yuuma chick wasn't even from his school so it's not as if he had to worry about any rumors or damaging his reputation, but there was no telling what she might do if he pulled a stunt like that. Best to give her an answer in the kindest way he could and see where things go, hopefully anywhere but south. Hopefully in any way that didn't involve her pulling a knife before proclaiming her undying love for him. "No, I'm not. Why?"

"I'm glad then!"

'Okay, that's kind of rude to say. Kinda messed up to ask a guy if he's got a girl and then say you're happy when he says no. And judging by the way it looks like she's trying to stop herself from panicking I think she just heard it the same way I did.'

"Wait, that's not what I mean! C-can I please try that again?" Yuuma asked him, making him smile a bit more genuinely before giving her a nod. Poor girl really was trying hard and it was endearing in its own way. "Thanks." She took a breath to calm herself and began again, "I've seen you walk through here a few times, and I thought you were really cute. So, um, would you please go out with me?" And there it was, the question he was hoping she wouldn't ask. He didn't particularly enjoy what he'd have to do next but he also really didn't need anybody hanging around him, looking too closely into what he does or where he goes. It's why he spent his entire high school career staying in the middle of the pack, never dipping too low or soaring too high above the average, just blending in.

"Look, Amano-san..."

"Please, call me Yuuma."

And she's forward too. Great. "Yuuma-san. You're cute and I'm touched that you would ask me out. Unfortunately, my studies occupy a lot of my time and I don't really have the time to dedicate to a relationship. I'm sorry but I'll have to decline." There, done, short and to the point. Now all that was left to do was hope she's the type to take rejection well.

"O-oh. I see. All right, I understand." And now she looked almost ready to cry. Dammit all. Give him a grown man wielding a lead pipe trying to crack his skull open, he could deal. Give him three drunk college kids on vacation and looking for a brawl, he could deal. Give him some wannabe yakuza-type with a katana trying to split him from balls to brains, he could deal. Put a crying girl in front of him and the calm, collected facade he worked hard at crumbled to reveal the socially inept teen he actually was. Why couldn't he take to acquiring tact the same way he took to fighting?

"That's not to say I wouldn't have time in the future!" Okay, leading on a half-truth. He'd have time in the future, true. Didn't mean he'd be looking for a relationship then either. "I just really need to focus on school at the moment. You know how it is." God, please let her know how it is. Just don't start crying. He might really do something stupid if she does, like actually agreeing to a date just to make her stop. "I'm really sorry." Good, stop there now. No more words, you've done enough damage.

"Y-yeah, I get it. I'm sorry for wasting your time." Yuuma said before turning her back towards him, hands behind her back. No waterworks, thankfully. Shiki smiled awkwardly and bowed his head.

"Thanks for being so understanding, and I'm sorry. Maybe some oth-"

"I'm also sorry that you're set on investing time in a future you won't get to experience."

What.

Yuuma spun back around quickly to face him, smile going from cute, innocent and a bit downtrodden to cold, malevolent and mocking. Eyes that were bright before took on a cold, almost glacier-like look. Then the wings sprouted from her back and, for once his life, Shiki truly was at a complete loss for words as Amano Yuuma took to the sky, hovering several feet off the ground. "It's a shame too. If you had just said yes I'd have given you a pleasant memory. Oh well, my own fault for trying to be considerate of lesser beings. Consider this quick death a consolation prize."

 **What.**

Faster than his brain could process she was in front of him, some sort of conjured up spear appeared in her hand. A spear that was quickly rammed into his stomach and out his back. Just as quickly as it had stabbed through him it was gone, disappearing as if it had never existed, leaving only a hole in his abdomen. There was no time to register the pain, no, it was more like he couldn't feel anything at all. Just weightlessness as he collapsed face first on the overpass, his bag of groceries dropping with him as blood gushed out of his open wound.

"If it makes you feel any better, none of this is your fault." What is she talking about. "The Sacred Gear inside of you, it's a threat to our organization. If you have to blame anyone, blame God for your misfortune." What the hell is this chick saying. This… this fucking _bitch_ just stabbed him and, judging by the flapping sounds he could hear, is now flying off. Sacred Gear? Organization? _God?_ None of that crap had anything to do with him so why the hell is he staring at the ground, bleeding out on the cold, unforgiving pavement?! Why was he _dying?!_

'No, no, no. Not like this.' Shiki thought to himself desperately. 'Anything but dying like this.' Cold, alone, no one to help him, no one to mourn him. If the circumstances were less dire he would have found it ironic. All of his life he pushed people away for the sake of chasing after whatever he wanted to do, never really giving a damn about how it affected others, but now when he's dying he'd kill for someone, anyone to be around. He didn't even message his parents to at least say good morning today. His stomach dropped, 'Oh god. Mom. Dad.' He wasn't ever going to see them again. The next time they saw him, he would be a corpse. Their only son, their only child, dead. It would destroy them. They spent their entire lives working to give him every opportunity they never had and he goes and dies on a goddamn bridge?

No. Not this way. He would not die in the streets like this, like a goddamn _dog._ No, he'd live. He'd live and he'd hunt down that winged bitch that gutted him and give her the same treatment. No grand fight, no enjoyment, no savoring the moment. Just run her through the same way she did him, only he wouldn't be so fucking stupid as to walk away before watching the light leave her eyes. And when the day came for him to die, to truly die, he'd do it on his own terms. A man's death. Not gutted by some piece of shit that thought so little of him they didn't even finish the job.

So caught up in his own thoughts, gradually transitioning from misery to becoming infuriated at the circumstances of his death that he didn't notice the flyer he had received earlier that day fly out of his bag and into the air before what could only be described as a magic circle appeared before it. It was only when the light emitted from that magic circle became unbearably bright even to his dimming sight that he noticed it, struggling to turn over and see what the hell was going on.

For the second time in the past few minutes or so he was astounded as he watched a girl appear slowly as if out of thin air. His sight was steadily getting worse as he lost more and more blood but he could recognize two things about whoever it was standing in front of him: she wore the Kuoh Academy female uniform and her hair was an incredible shade of crimson, one that could put his lifeblood to shame with its luster. He could have sworn he knew of a girl at the Academy with hair that color but he was no longer thinking clearly, only having the strength left to latch onto a single thought. 'I don't want to die today.'

"To summon me personally, you must have an incredible will." the girl spoke, not yet turning to face the dying young man. "Though in the future I would heavily suggest against calling upon any of us in public, but I suppose considering no one but us is around I can forgive it this once. So, what is your wish?" she finished, turning around gracefully before her eyes went wide with shock as she took in the sight before her. "You?! I hadn't expected this, or that _they_ would make such a bold move. I suppose in a way that's my fault." she began, walking over to him before kneeling down, looking into his listless eyes while cradling his face. "Don't worry though, you won't be dying here." Shiki faintly felt the sensation of something being placed on his chest but he had no idea what and not the strength to move his head and see what was being done to him. "I'll gladly accept you. In exchange, please live for me."

The last words he heard before his vision finally failed him and the world went dark.

* * *

 ** _BEEP BEEP BEEP_**

 ** _BEEP BEEP BEEP_**

 ** _BEEP BEEP BE-_**

'Ugh, my head is killing me. What the hell happened yesterday?' Shiki thought to himself as he flipped the switch to turn his alarm off, wincing at the movement. His head was throbbing and every part of his body felt sore. Shitty dream too. He dreamed he died, stabbed in the stomach and left to bleed to death on an overpass. Thinking about that nightmare wasn't doing his head any favors, thinking in general only seemed to make the pounding feeling worse. The last time he had felt this awful was the night he figured out how to pick the lock on his father's liquor cabinet. 'But I can't have gotten wasted last night, I actually woke up in my bed instead of on the bathroom floor.' he thought with a bit of humor.

The amusement at his own joke quickly disappeared when he heard someone else's light breathing. Someone else's breathing _in his bed._ He fought down feelings of panic, moving as slowly and as carefully as he could to slide out of bed without awakening the home intruder. Getting his feet on the ground he scrambled to move across his bedroom quickly and quietly, debating between checking his closet to see if he had a bat or to go at whoever was in his bed with his fists. His decision was made for him when his ears picked up a soft moan and the ruffling of his blankets, balling his hands into fists and getting ready to swing the moment whoever the hell this was raised their head. He got the shock of his life when they did, because "they" was a she.

He had seen a lot of attractive girls in his life. Hell, at Kuoh Academy it must have been some sort of unspoken requirement that every girl accepted be cute, minimum. This one though, looking at her was almost enough to make him forget to _breathe._ A face that was just the right combination of cute and drop dead gorgeous. Shining blue eyes. Pink, soft-looking lips. Long, magnificent red hair and smooth snow-white skin, skin he saw a lot more of when she moved to sit on the edge of his bed, cover discarded, revealing everything from her large breasts down all the way to her long legs that seemed to go on forever. Just seeing her was enough to make him freeze up but the realization that she was naked shut his brain down, only restarting when she spoke, smiling at him.

"Good morning."

Now if only he could remember how to speak instead of making incoherent choking sounds. Things only got worse when he felt a sudden draft and he looked down, finally realizing that he too was naked. Entirely nude. In front of a gorgeous girl that was equally as naked in his bed. He took a long, deep breath and finally managed to force out a response, not looking up the entire time while moving his hands to hide his manhood from sight. "Good morning." Good start. "Do you know where my clothes are?" Probably should have just stopped at the morning greeting.

Mystery Girl laughed before giving her reply, "The ones you were wearing were ruined after last night." Brain shutting down again. Did she mean that in the way he thinks she means that? Did he have sex last night? Wild, clothing-destroying sex? Did he lose his virginity to this girl who's name he couldn't recall in an act he couldn't remember? She continued on, heedless to all of the questions running through his head, "You were hurt pretty badly. It's a good thing I arrived when I did, otherwise you may not have made it." Hurt? Him? Never. From what he remembered of yesterday he came out of that fight without a scratch. "Last night wasn't a dream. You really did die."

He would have laughed in her face at that last bit if he could. Dying? Seriously? But at the word "die" everything came rushing back to him like a dam bursting. That girl, Yuuma, asking him out on a date. Turning her down. Black wings. Being stabbed and left to perish. Hearing someone speaking to him but being unable to make out what the words were. Finally blacking out, thinking he had died. But that couldn't be real, that was just ridiculous. He was just remembering some stupid dream that he had the night prior. Human beings don't have wings, they can't summon weird energy spears, and they certainly don't come back from the dead. There was no way he could believe that. His head slowly rose and when he made eye contact with the girl sitting on his bed she spoke again. "We haven't been properly introduced. It's nice to meet you, Yukimura-kun. My name is Rias Gremory and I'm a Devil. May I call you Shiki?"

He brought a crazy girl home. Figures.

* * *

 **Author's Note: Giving writing a try for the first time in years. Won't fluff up the word count with an overly large author's note, here are the bare essentials: Issei-replacement fic, OC protagonist, canon events that I include in the story are liable to being rearranged as I see fit (as you've probably already noticed), (probably) harem pairing but it'll be a gradual thing. If any of that isn't your cup of tea, you may want to leave. Or stay and see if I can change your mind, that's fine too. Anyway, read and review, tell me what I did wrong, what I did right, what interested you, etc. Have a nice day.**


	2. Bad Days and Worse Talks

Wavy, unkempt, uncontrollable bedhead, both light and dark browns mixed together. Looking at his hair always reminded him of that one little shit in early middle school that called him "coffee head". Shiki couldn't think of any other time he punched someone with as much satisfaction, even if it did result in a suspension. Light brown eyes that darted all over his reflection in the bathroom mirror as he did a visual inspection. Mouth set in a slight frown as he looked himself over, checking for any oddities. Pale white skin. Not overly built with muscle, he always preferred a more slim and wiry look to himself. Made it easier to look unassuming and normal, both in school and in fights. No scars, cuts or bruises on this stomach despite the fact that the girl currently in his room told him that he had died the previous night by way of impalement. Average-sized hands, fingernails neatly trimmed. Strong arms with wiry muscle that carried more punch than someone would think up until the moment his fist smashed into them. Strong legs, necessary for him to move on reflex and instinct as quickly as he did. Toenails just as neatly cut as his fingernails.

He looked normal. Of course he looked normal, what did he expect? To sprout horns and a spade-tipped tail because some girl told him he was a "Devil" now? Nope, not him. Still human as human can be. Thankfully no stitch marks anywhere he could see either, hopefully that meant he was still in possession of all his organs. Could never be too careful when you wake up next to a possible lunatic. Or maybe he was the real crazy one for entertaining someone that was clearly not all there upstairs. Granted, not as crazy as her but still. Could be that this was all just a very elaborate, very weird prank. One that involved one of the "Great Ladies" of Kuoh Academy sleeping in his bed, naked. Who then proceeded to tell him that he died and that she was some supernatural, biblical monster. If it was then he was going to have a very long, possibly very violent, talk with the mastermind behind this.

Until then he wasn't going to give them the satisfaction of losing his cool. Of course, deciding that after he had grabbed a new uniform from his closet and scrambled into his bathroom to change and preserve whatever dignity he had left may have already blown his cover that his cool was anything but kept but it was the thought that counts. For now he'd just play it normal and keep pace with his regular morning routine. He glanced at the shower and had to rule out following the _entire_ routine. No way he was taking a shower with a stranger in his house, it was bad enough she was currently out of his sight doing who knows what in his house. He'd have to make do giving himself a quick wash with a towel and the sink faucet after brushing his teeth.

A brushing and wipe down later, he quickly dressed himself, doing his best to look nonplussed as he opened the door and walked back into his bedroom. Oh good, Rias was fully dressed now. Good, that was good. Trying to stave off an erection when running to the bathroom was hard enough, no pun intended, he'd rather not have to do it again. Trying to keep his voice as level as possible, he called out to her. "You want to, uh, freshen up or something before school?" Smooth as sandpaper.

She turned towards him, flipping her hair over her shoulder before giving her reply, "It's fine, I can take care of that at school and I wouldn't want to impose. Will you be alright? You were quite frantic earlier." Of course he was frantic, he woke up to Rias Gremory in his damn bed with no memory of the previous night. Any man in his position would have been "frantic".

"I'm good. I..." He couldn't lie and say he took a shower last night when he didn't _remember_ last night. He refused to believe something as ridiculous as last night's nightmare was a reality, which left him in an awkward predicament. Couldn't say he did it before she woke up either considering how she found him. Truth then? Yeah, sure, this whole situation was bizarre enough as is. "I don't like showering when there's a stranger in my house." That got a light laugh out of her.

"Fair enough." A simple, graceful, two word reply. "Breakfast then?" Was she offering him breakfast in his own house or was she asking him to cook something for her? Either way, she was certainly bold but he could already tell that much given this entire morning. You don't get naked and crawl into someone's bed being timid. He was hungry anyway, wouldn't hurt to make her something even if she was just messing with him. Would hurt even less to keep her happy if she really was just as crazy as he feared.

"Sure, I'll cook."

No way was he letting her near the knives.

* * *

"That was delicious. Thank you for the meal."

"No problem. You're a guest, it's only be polite of me to make you breakfast." Specifically one that only needed a fork to eat. Fresh, nicely diced ham, an omelet and a glass of orange juice. Not a bad meal to start off the day and would hopefully give him the energy to deal with whatever game Rias was playing. "If you don't mind I'd like to ask you a few questions."

Rias smiled and set down her fork before gracefully wiping her mouth with a napkin. Hell, every way she moved carried an air of grace and nobility to it. Must be that higher class upbringing of hers. "And I would love to answer them. Unfortunately," Unfortunately? "we're running a bit late on time. Classes will be starting soon." Shiki had to clamp down on the urge to ask if she was being serious right now. School, now? After this freaky-ass morning? "I promise to answer any and all questions you have after class. I'll send for someone to bring you to the Occult Research Club. We should really get going though, we wouldn't want to be late."

Occult Research Club?! He really was neck-deep in the shit now, he had brought a well and truly crazy girl into his house. 'Thanks, God.' And no sooner did that thought stop that he had to stop himself from visibly wincing. 'What the fuck was that?' It felt like a lance of pain right through his skull, unexpected and seemingly for no reason. Thankfully for as quickly as it came, it went, and he was left no worse for wear. He watched as Rias stood up from her seat at his dining room table and began walking to the door, worry present in his eyes. 'What the hell did you do to me when I was asleep?!' Quickly bringing the plates to the kitchen sink and dumping them in, he all but chased after her as she put on her shoes, opened the door and walked out, hastily putting on his own shoes and rushing to lock the door behind him.

On the bright side, at least he got her out of the house. A few more small victories like that and maybe he'd be able to convince himself that he had the situation under control.

* * *

Shiki felt like shit a few minutes into walking alongside Rias. Out of energy and that soreness from earlier making itself present once more, he struggled to keep a neutral expression. His eyes felt strained and his arms felt like they were full of lead, every step was a struggle. He had to squash the urge to just grab Rias and demand what she did that left him feeling like this. This was not normal, nothing about any of this was normal and it was really starting to not only anger him but worry him as well.

"It's a shame your parents couldn't join us for breakfast." What? Oh, right, normal conversation. Not particularly his strong suit, especially feeling as crap as he did at that moment. Nevertheless, he told himself he'd remain collected until Rias Gremory and her gorgeous brand of insanity was as far away from him as possible and if that meant small talk then so be it.

"Would have been difficult for them to, all things considered. They don't live in Kuoh. I live here alone." Considering this girl had, for all intents and purposes, broken into his house and laid next to his sleeping body he wondered if it was a smart move to tell her that he lived alone. Probably not. 'Note to self, buy security system and change all locks.'

"Aren't you a bit young to be living on your own?"

'You're not wrong.' he thought with more than a healthy amount of bitterness. His parents were sort of a sore spot for him, one he didn't particularly feel like going too in-depth with with a stranger. He didn't want, nor need, sympathy and he wasn't looking for anyone to act as a therapist either. His problems were just that, _his_ problems. "It was a location issue. Their jobs needed them somewhere else but they wanted to send me to the best possible school they could. So, they rented out the house I'm at and come over a few times a month to check up on me. This way works out best for everyone." It really didn't in his opinion, but he didn't bother to voice such thoughts, not to Rias nor his mother and father. The former because she didn't need to know and the latter because they worked themselves hard to put him in Kuoh, get him a place to live and put money into an account to live off of so he wouldn't have to juggle work and school. He shouldn't complain, regardless of how he felt. "What about you?"

Rias smiled when answering him, "I also live by myself." Eh? Then why did she say he was young to be on his own if she was too? They couldn't have been more than a year apart in age. Damn weird girl. "I wanted to be more independent and experience some freedom so I asked them to let me live in Japan. They agreed so long as I speak to them regularly and don't let my grades slip." So that's how it was. Two high schoolers living on their own, one by necessity and the other by choice. Small world. "And it looks like we're here."

She was right, they were already at the gates in front of Kuoh. Conversation and all that time spent in his own head had distracted him and made the walk go by faster than he thought, despite his body pains. And, unfortunately, people were staring at them both. Staring and talking. Staring and talking very loudly, saying things like "What's Rias onee-sama doing with somebody like him?!", "Who the hell even is that?" and his personal favorite, "He better get away from Rias-sama if he knows what's good for him."

'Oh please, try. Please come over here and do something so I can claim self-defense.' Shiki thought to himself. Yesterday's trash-level fight left him more than unsatisfied and this morning's BS made him more than annoyed, any opportunity to work off some anger would be relished. Externally though, he put on a polite smile as always and whispered to Rias, "Are they always like this?"

"You get used to it." No, he would most certainly not be getting used to it. This would not be happening again, walking together with one of the school's "idols". Having people's attention like this would not be a repeat performance, not if he had anything to say about it. "Regardless, I'll send someone for you after class. We'll talk then, alright? Goodbye and have a nice day." Rias finished with a smile. Speaking of things that wouldn't be happening, that. He played along with this joke for more than long enough, he wouldn't be involved any further. He still smiled back and wished her the same before breaking off from her to go to class, the eyes of what felt like the entire student body boring holes into his body.

Unwanted attention from literally everyone aside, it wasn't a bad feeling, pissing off all these people. He tried to keep his more vicious tendencies contained to fights but seeing people trying to glare him to death put him in a smidgen of a better mood. He supposed it was just in his nature to enjoy pushing people's buttons, in fights or out of them. 'Keep on glaring, idiots. It's all you _can_ do, whether you know it or not.'

Only a minute after splitting from Rias and his mood was looking up. Now he just needed to make it through another boring school day. Easy.

* * *

"What were you and Rias-senpai doing walking together to school, Yukimura-kun?"

Why couldn't things be easy? Why did people have to keep badgering him for details? Nothing even happened! That damn girl and her ridiculous popularity were starting to cause real problems for him! The attention from walking in with her he could accept on the condition that it eventually dissipate when people found something more interesting to talk about. It was the constant questions from his classmates that was angering him, because it wasn't as if he could just get up and walk out of the room. Not only would that make the situation worse, it'd probably get the rumor mill spinning even faster. With his awful luck lately causing a scene by stomping out would somehow result in a rumor like "Yukimura-kun left class to have a mid-day rendezvous with Gremory-senpai!" Just thinking of all the crap they could make up made him want to vomit. Why couldn't anyone in this school be _normal?!_

"Nothing, actual nothing. We ran into each other and talked on the way here. That's the extent of my interactions with Rias Gremory, Kutaragi-san." he answered, not even bothering to look up as he addressed her, more focused on shoving his textbooks into his bag quickly. Probably could be considered rude but he was so tired of this shit and the terrible sluggishness in his body from that morning hadn't disappeared. Maybe he should consider going to a doctor, because whatever was wrong with him wasn't going away apparently.

Kutaragi Noire was the closest thing he had to a friend in his class and even using the word "friend" was stretching it. They were passing acquaintances that only interacted with one another in school, though from the way she kept inviting him to hang out with her and her friends she probably wanted more. He wasn't interested in any sort of romantic relationship with anyone right now. He had enough on his plate and he knew he wasn't exactly the picture perfect poster child of stability to begin with, no need for other people to go and find that out too. "But, I do need you to do me a small favor." Shiki finished, looking at her for the first time. He was probably pushing his luck here, asking the girl who's invitation he turned down yesterday for some help but there wasn't any harm in asking.

"Huh? A favor? Sure, I guess. What do you need?" Noire quickly responded. Well that certainly worked out nicely. Maybe he should have felt guiltier taking advantage of a girl that had some sort of thing for him. Time for guilt later though, right now was time for getting the hell out of Dodge and for that he needed a small part of deception. Right on time, the bell signifying the end of class and school rung. Perfect.

"Anyone that comes in here looking for me, tell 'em I went to the bathroom and that I'll be back. Can you do that for me?" Shiki asked, smiling brightly at her, laying on as much charm as he could in the hopes she'd just accept what he was asking without looking too much into it. He was taking a gamble, asking someone else for help on this, but he needed to stall whoever Rias sent for him just long enough to give himself a head start on the way home, where he could lock all of his doors and pretend to not be there if she showed up at his house looking for him.

"Um, sure? Why though?" Noire asked, more confused than anything. She really was cute, tilting her head like that with such an expression. Too bad he was such a mess in every way possible otherwise he'd have taken her up on one of her many, unsubtle, requests for a date.

"Now _that_ is a story, unfortunately one I don't have time to tell you today. Thanks for the favor, Kutaragi-san. Will pay you back when I can, promise!" Shiki shouted over his shoulder as he grabbed his bag and hurried out of the room, heedless of what anyone might think or say. Hopefully Rias gave up after today's setback, otherwise his classmates could get used to this kind of spectacle from him. Even his reputation was taking hits because of that troublesome redhead. Crazy chicks were the worst.

* * *

'Oh you must be fuckin' shitting me.'

"We finally found you, shithead brat." It was that idiot from yesterday, along with his two cronies. Shiki noted with a bit of pride that the guy he beat up on had a cast over his nose, making his ugly mug that much worse. He must have let some amusement show on his face because Ugly, as he had now taken to calling him, got angrier. "Oh you think this is fucking funny? We spent all day looking for you, what a surprise that you're just some snot-nosed high school punk. You're not gonna be lucky this time though. All three of us are going to pay you back for yesterday." Ugly chuckled as his goons looked ready to jump in the fight with their "boss", so sure of their strength in numbers. They stood across from him on the same overpass he walked over on his way home, the same one from his dream.

'Why is this happening to me? Did I do something to deserve it?' Shiki thought to himself. Then he looked again at the cast on the man's nose and the black and blue bruises peppering his face. 'Okay, stupid question.' He had a feeling that his after school activities would give him grief one of these days but for someone he trashed to actually come looking for him? That was a first. And it was a bad first, incredibly so. These people were getting a look at him in his school uniform. A few questions around town and they would know what school he attended. One thing would lead to another and if they spoke to the administration it would be their word against his. He could get _expelled_ for this.

It was that final thought that made him really angry. Ever since he'd started this bad little habit of his he had busted his ass to keep it under wraps. Never starting fights within the general vicinity of Kuoh Academy or with any of the other members of the student body, never fighting in his uniform, he had even gone as far as to leave Kuoh Town a few times when he was feeling particularly cautious. And these idiots were ruining everything. They were putting everything he worked hard at in jeopardy because they couldn't take the loss he handed them. They were putting his perfectly maintained image in danger because they were sore losers. Who the hell did they think they were to pull this stunt?

He dropped his school bag to the ground without a care and started undoing buttons on his black blazer, starting with the cuffs before moving on to the front buttons. They wanted a fight? He'd give them a damn slaughter. He was going to regret getting into a fight like this. Too close to school, while still wearing his uniform, in plain sight where some passing student could see them. He didn't give a shit anymore. The day gradually wearing him down, the general fatigue he had felt since waking up, everyone's constant gaze on him at school, and just the audacity of these men to try and call him out, it all swirled together and fueled the fire inside him. "For as much I might regret this in the future," he began, undoing the last button and letting his blazer hang open as he started walking towards them, eager for the opportunity to finally cut loose, "you pieces of shit are going to regret it a hundred times more now."

"Ah, there's no need for that."

Shiki felt a hand on his shoulder and spun with as much force he could, knocking the hand away and throwing a hook with the intent of taking someone's head right off their shoulders. He was shocked not only by his punch being blocked but by the person doing the blocking. Kiba Yuuto, second year at Kuoh Academy, also known as "The Prince of Kuoh Academy" to many of the female students. Kiba Yuuto, currently stopping Shiki's fist from decapitating him with a block using his forearms, his punch stopped dead in its tracks. Kiba Yuuto, with that damned constant smile on his face despite the fact that Shiki swung at him full force. "I hope you don't greet everyone like this, Yukimura-kun." Kiba Yuuto, currently getting on his nerves.

"Only when they piss me off. Now if you don't mind, I'm in the middle of something here." Shiki quipped rudely, not even bothering to play the role of normal, average high school student that he usually took on around classmates. No point to it, Kiba had probably seen and heard more than what Shiki would have liked, meaning he was screwed no matter what. Might as well just go with what felt natural, and what felt natural right now was being angry.

"Sorry, Yukimura-kun," Shiki really wished this guy would stop using his name so casually, "I've been instructed to bring you to the club room." So this was his "escort", huh? Persistent guy, to chase him this far out. Fast runner too, had to be considering the lead Shiki had over Kiba with Noire running interference. Kiba stepped in front of him and glanced at the three thugs at the end of the bridge. "Besides, these gentlemen were about to leave. Isn't that right?" First, dead silence, as if they were contemplated actually leaving. Then, almost like magic, they actually did, just turned and left, Ugly grumbling all the while about how two kids weren't worth their time. Kiba turned back to Shiki with that same smile he always had, "See?"

"I don't need you or anyone else fighting my battles for me." Shiki snapped. Denied a fight to take out his anger on someone and now likely to be coerced into walking back to school to meet with Rias, this day just kept getting better and better. "Lemme guess, you're here to make sure that I take Rias' invitation to visit her club and if I don't then you'll report what happened here to the Dean? Get me suspended or expelled if I don't go with you?"

"Neither I nor Buchou have any desire to blackmail or otherwise extort you. She just wants you to visit the club and to answer the questions you had this morning, that's all." Kiba replied calmly, trying to placate the irate Shiki as best he could. To Kiba's credit, he did manage to get Shiki to settle down after mentioning that nobody was going to try and get him expelled.

Shiki snatched his bag of the ground and turned to walk back in the direction of the school. "Fine, blondie. I'll go to your damn club meeting, hear what Rias has to say and get some answers. But so help me if this is you people's idea of a joke you're not going to be blocking the next punch so easily. Got it?" He didn't even wait for Kiba's response before walking off, determined to get this over with as quickly as possible. Kiba just chuckled as he followed closely behind.

* * *

"So..."

"Is there any reason in particular you left despite my telling you I would send someone to your class you bring you here?" Shiki could hear the lightest bit of irritation in Rias' tone. Good. She had caused him nothing but grief from the moment he wore up to now. It was only fair that he pay some of that back. To answer her, he decided to give the truth and see how she took it.

"Well at first I thought you were screwing with me, trying to play some really over-elaborate prank. Then you started talking about Devils and my death and I switched from thinking you were messing around to thinking you're insane." He took a pause and looked around the room, taking in the scenery. Weird, occultic symbols on the floors, walls and even ceiling. Some sort of "magic circle" drawn in the center of the room. The only light provided were candles. A Victorian-era styled sofa sitting off to the side, with one Toujou Koneko, the school's unofficial mascot, sitting on it and eating sweets, Kiba standing close by. A desk that he was currently standing in front of, having refused the seat offered to him under the belief that he wouldn't be there long, Rias sitting behind that desk and Himejima Akeno, the second of the two "Great Ladies", standing to her left with an amused look. "Jury's still out on the whole "insane" bit, to be honest with you." Making eye contact with Rias he could tell that she was still a bit annoyed but also entertained by his response, even if it was at her expense. Lucky for him, would be pretty bad if she was angry at him and then wound up to be actually crazy on top of that.

"Ara ara, you've found a lively one, Buchou." Himejima Akeno, the second half of the "Great Ladies". Absurdly attractive, with a body women well above her age would literally kill for. Long black hair up in a ponytail tied with an orange ribbon, with two long strands of hair sticking up from her head and sloping backwards. Shiki had to resist the urge to liken them to antennae and ask her if she picked up any radio stations. He was pushing his luck as is, and it's not as if the black-haired girl had done anything to warrant his jokes. She wore the standard female uniform and, just like Rias, the chest area was bulging. He had to wonder if it really was something in the water of this town or if everything the women in Kuoh ate just went to their breasts.

"He is, isn't he? He'll make a fine addition." Addition? Oh no, not happening. Joining some school club that was starting to seem more and more like an actual cult was not high on his list of priorities. He'd just have to decline, politely but forcefully.

"Addition? I only came here to get some answers. Not interested in joining."

Or just forcefully.

"Well, hopefully my answers can change your mind." Not likely. "So, how about I start from the beginning?" Shiki's silence must have been answer enough because Rias continued on. "I'll get to the point then. We are Devils. The person that killed you last evening, with black wings, is what we refer to as a Fallen Angel. Former Angels that served the Biblical God but have since fallen from Heaven for holding evil intentions. They, along with the Angels of Heaven, are the enemies of Devils. To save your life I-"

"Is this funny to you?" Shiki cut her off coldly.

Rias looked confused, "I'm sorry?"

"I asked if this is funny to you. Not only have you made my day a living hell, not only do you have one of your club members hunt me down to drag me back here, but then you rub it in and waste my time by telling me something so ridiculous? Do you get off on it, trying to mock and humiliate me like this?" Shiki spun on his heels and began walking to the door. He felt like an idiot for even coming here. Of course this was just a stupid joke by the upperclassmen, why would it be anything else? They were wasting his time and for that he felt no remorse in firing back at them rudely, discarding politeness entirely. "Find someone else to screw with. I'm done, with you and your cult. Don't bother me again." Hand reaching out for the door knob, his heart stopped when he heard two words from Rias.

"Amano Yuuma."

His stomach dropped at hearing that name. How did she know that name? He told absolutely no one about his nightmare from the night prior. There wasn't any way for Rias to know it. Coincidence, had to be. That was it, just pure coincidence. She was making a random shot in the dark, throwing out a name and gauging his reaction to see if he'd bite. He wouldn't give her the satisfaction. "I don't know who or what that is. If that's all you have to say, I'm leaving."

"She existed. Yesterday you were killed by the Fallen Angel known as Amano Yuuma and I reincarnated you as a Devil. As proof that I am telling the truth, that everyone in this room is a Devil," he heard what sounded like something unfurling or otherwise being released, "please look at me once more." It would have been so easy to just blow her off, open the door and walk out but something inside him compelled him to turn towards her once more.

Wings. Huge, black, jagged, bat-like wings. Every single person in this club had wings sprouting from their backs. For the first time in so long, Shiki felt fear, fear and a complete numbness. The people before him were not human beings. Devils, actual Devils. She was telling the truth. "Don't look so surprised, Shiki. You have them as well." What. No, he most certainly did not have wings. He did not have wings because he was not a Devil. He refused to believe that up until he lurched forward suddenly, a pressure on his back building before he heard that same unfurling sound. "If you don't believe me just look yourself." And when he did so he was met with the sight of those same great black wings. Sprouting from _his_ back. _His_ wings. He had _wings._ "Now, would you like to sit down so we can discuss this properly?" Shiki couldn't even find it in him to respond, he was so badly shocked. All he could do was stagger in a daze back to where he was standing previously before taking the seat that was offered.

Rias launched into an explanation of everything the moment Shiki sat down but it was mostly in one ear and out the other. He was too shocked by the revelation that he was no longer a human being to truly pay attention to anything the redhead was saying. A Devil, that's what he was now. What did that even _mean_? Would he be taking people's souls in deals? Performing human sacrifice? And what about his family, how did his mother and father factor into all this? Would he have to abandon them to keep them safe from people that would try to hurt him for what he was now?

"Do you understand all of that? You, Yukimura Shiki, were reborn as a servant Devil to me."

That was enough to drag him back to reality as those words rung through his ears. Servant? Servant. _Slave_. This girl had somehow made him a _slave_ in her service. His fists clenched, fingernails digging deeply into his palms until he was sure they were breaking the skin and drawing blood. He forced a smile to his face, a shaky, unnatural smile that looked entirely out of place with the rest of his body language, though it seemed that Rias hadn't noticed how badly Shiki was taking all of this. "That's how it is, huh? I'm your slave?" he growled, temper flaring once more but this far worse than before. He was approaching the boiling point.

"It's not like that, Yukimura-kun. The Gremory family is incredibly kind and treat us like family." Kiba started kindly and he almost recoiled when Shiki turned to him, fake smile dropping and twisted into a snarl.

"Who the _fuck_ asked you? Nobody was talking to you so shut the hell up, Prince. I was speaking to my new "Master"." Shiki snapped at the blond, shocking everyone at the venom in his voice. He glared at Kiba, almost daring him to speak again before looking back to Rias, the unfitting smile he previously wore back in place. He spoke politely and succinctly, "Whatever deal we have, whatever you did to me, undo it. Now."

"I can't do that, Shiki. Please calm do-"

"What the hell do you mean you can't do it? If you did it then you can undo it! What right do you have to do this to me? Who the hell gave you the right to turn me into property? Don't you fucking tell me to calm down! This is slavery! I want _nothing_ to do with you, with any of you! I don't want to be your friend, I don't want to be your family, I don't know you and I don't want to know you so take back whatever you did to me!" he ranted, panting heavily from almost screaming himself hoarse. Rias was shocked silent, she'd never witnessed so much vitriolic anger, never mind having it directed towards her. This entire encounter was different than anything she had expected. She had expected shock, amazement and a fair bit of anger but this was far past a "fair bit". He looked a hair away from leaping over the desk to attack her.

Akeno, seeing her King's predicament, stepped up in her place to try and pacify the enraged young man before he did anything rash, "Yukimura-kun I know you're angry but-"

"Shut. Up." Shiki retorted, cutting her off. "I don't want to hear anything any of you have to say. Undo this and then let me go." In the back of his head he knew he was entering very dangerous territory, making demands of people that could probably kill him if his last encounter with a supernatural being was anything to go by. He didn't care anymore. He wanted to go home. Go home and just pretend this day never happened. Maybe break something. Several somethings. Several people's somethings.

"Yukimura," Rias began sternly, dropping all politeness, all business now. "I can understand and tolerate your anger but you will not be rude to my servants. I can't undo this, reincarnating you as a Devil is a permanent change," Shiki began growling again at this, sounding more like a dog backed into a corner than a person at this point, "but your status as a Low Class Devil doesn't need to be permanent. You can rise through the ranks and become a High Class Devil, after which you'll have almost complete autonomy."

"And how do I do that? Why should I trust you?"

"I have no reason to lie to you. As for how, there are several ways, but the most common one involves fighting. That sounds like something you'd be interested in, doesn't it? Strong opponents, nothing like you've ever seen before. A real test of your strength." Rias looked so sure this would be enough to get him to calm down.

She wasn't wrong, it did calm him a bit. He could still be free and all it would take was some fighting. Fighting to rise through the ranks, going against the best of the best. That's what he wanted before, wasn't it? Well, not exactly that, but he did want to fight strong people. By fighting those people he'd free himself of this indentured servitude forced upon him, two birds with one stone. But there was something wrong with what Rias said, he noticed. How exactly did she know that he'd be interested in something like that? Kiba couldn't have told her anything about how he'd found him without Shiki noticing, and even if he had one fight didn't equate to enjoying fighting. He took a lot of care in keeping his hobby away from prying eyes, of that he was certain. There was no way for her to know unless...

"You've been spying on me." It wasn't a question. "You've been _watching_ me." His voice was starting to pick up again, rising from the whisper he started at. "You… you fucking people have been spying on me!" Rias opened her mouth to say something but he didn't give her chance. "I knew there was something weird about you people, how damn casual you were all acting around me! How none of you reacted even when I stopped pretending to be so damn polite. It's because you knew everything about me before we even met! You've been watching me for who knows how long. Probably waiting for the right moment to put a chain around my neck, right? Tell me something, _Buchou_." Shiki said, the title dripping with sarcasm. "Isn't it _convenient_ that I died in such a way? Killed by a Fallen Angel and who's there to pick up my life but Rias Gremory, someone who can bring me back to life as their slave! I can't refuse your offer if I'm laying on the ground bleeding out of a hole in my stomach, am I right?!" his anger was getting worse again, all but outright accusing her of having orchestrated his death.

"No!" For once, Rias lost the calm she had kept even when he was screaming. There was a fire in her eyes as she argued back. "I would never, ever even consider that! Yes, I will admit that I had you under surveillance but it was to try and protect you. I considered the possibility that the Fallen Angels could do something to harm you and, to try and prevent that, I was watching you. If I thought for even a moment that they would try to kill you I would have acted in your defense." Rias tried to to calm herself. To be angry was one thing but to say she had planned for his death was crossing the line. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry, for invading your privacy in such a way and for failing to save your life. Whether you believe it or not, I am. Neither you nor I can change what's happened though, so shouldn't we both try to move forward?"

"That's easy for you to say, you're not the one on a leash." Shiki countered. He couldn't prove that she had a hand in his death and in the same vein she couldn't prove to him she didn't. For now he'd have to take her word at face value, meaning he really had little choice in how to proceed. He was trapped, completely and utterly screwed. Fine, if that's how it is then he'd set the pace. If nothing else, he'd be the dictating the terms to his "Master", not the other way around. "Fine."

"Fine?"

"I'll work for you, but let's get a few things straight. I'm not your slave, I'm not your lackey, I'm not your friend and I'm not your dog. I'm not calling you Master. Don't expect me to bow or call you "Your Majesty" every time you walk in the door. I'm not calling you Buchou either, as far as anyone is concerned I'm not a member of this club. Any people you've got watching me, that stops, permanently. Finally, once I've reached the level of High Class if I say we're done then we're done. We go our separate ways, live our separate lives and that's that. If you can agree to all of that," he stepped forward and offered his hand, face twisted into a grimace as he made a literal deal with the Devil, "then you and I have a deal."

He felt that what he was asking was perfectly within his rights. He wouldn't acknowledge someone that had practically tricked him into becoming a Devil and he damn sure wasn't joining the Occult Research Club so there wasn't a reason to call her Buchou either. He wanted his privacy back to try and regain something resembling his normal life, a life he could feel slowly slipping away from him the longer he spent in their club room. If this girl wanted anything resembling a functioning work relationship with him then she'd accept his terms, and if she didn't then he'd raise hell whenever he could.

Rias must have thought the conditions he laid out were fair as she reached out and grasped his hand.

"You have yourself a deal, Shiki."

"Good. Now, do me a favor and tell me everything you can about this mess I've been dragged into. I want to know everything."

* * *

 **Author's Note: You may have noticed by now our protagonist has issues. It's part of my problem with DxD's canon, in that the Evil Piece system is objectively a pretty horrid thing. A Devil can reincarnate someone, anyone, against their will and the person has no say in it. Yes there are Devils, like the Gremory, that treat their servants as family but that doesn't excuse anything. It's still, at its base, a form of slavery. The times the negative aspects of the system is displayed is with villains like Diodora, who are so over the top evil that it kind of dulls the effect. Anyway, my OC is unhindered by thoughts of what he can gain from being a Devil and jumps straight to the negatives, as I feel any teenager going through a huge emotional upheaval would. He's been killed and had to confront that fact, had his facade of normality slowly picked apart throughout the day, and finally told that he is no longer human as well as a servant. I don't think there are many people in the world that could take such news with a smile.**

 **Anyway, read, review, etc. I'm also looking for a beta so if you've got extensive knowledge and/or experience with DxD and are interested in such a role then message me.**


	3. Hard Lessons and a Nun

"Hey Red, you and I need to have a talk real quick."

"What is it now, Shiki?" Rias asked, not look up or away from what she was reading. She was already used to this from him, and used to him calling her "Red". It was less an affection nickname and more of a way for him to further distance himself from Rias and the rest of the ORC by not using her name. The one time she tried to stop him from calling her "Red" he switched to "Exhibitionist" instead, then "Nudist". All things considered, "Red" wasn't the worst choice.

Shiki waltzed up and put a hand on her desk to get her attention, "I'll tell you what it is. What it is is that these jobs are all shit! I've been busting my ass all night for the past week passing out flyers and fulfilling contracts for every kind of nutjob, from otaku to parents to-"

"And you've been doing quite well, all of your clients said you were easy to get along with and that you fulfilled everything they asked of you to the best of your abilities. I almost had to double-check to make sure they were talking about you." Rias joked, setting down her paper and looking up at the boy with a smile. Despite his less than pleasant demeanor at times, or any time he wasn't in class or working on a contract really, he was working hard. Despite their rocky start it made her happy to see him giving it his best effort. Now if only she could work out the kinks in his attitude.

"The hell's that supposed to mean? Of course I did a good job, the only way to stop having to do this low-level crap is to do it right the first time. I get along with those people because I know how to lie through my teeth. Now as I was saying, these jobs suck. My last job had a crossdresser that wanted to be a Mahou Shoujo! Who, speaking of which, had more muscles than professional bodybuilders! Do you know how long it took to convince him to change his wish to something else that I could actually do?" Shiki suppressed a shudder as he thought of one of his previous contracts. Men, especially ones that looked like "Mil-tan", should not wear skirts, preferably ever. ""Devil-san, I want to be a Mahou Shoujo", "Devil-san, watch my kids for me", "Hang out with me, Devil-san", "Devil-san, please do my homework!", blah, blah, fucking blah, it goes on and on. You promised that I'd be fighting people and the closest I've gotten to a fight was with the damn crossdresser!"

"Shiki, I've already explained this to you. The Three Factions are in a cold war right now, being promoted for military deeds is practically impossible at the current moment. As for a Rating Game I'm-"

Shiki cut her off, "Yeah, yeah I already know, you can't do 'em yet. That doesn't help _me._ You don't let me go out and pick a fight like I used to because it's too "dangerous" for a Devil to fight a human, I can't go track down that bitch that killed me, you can't challenge someone to a Rating Game, what the hell am I supposed to do for fun?"

"Pick up a new hobby?" Rias suggested, suppressing a laugh at the deadpan expression on his face.

"This is not the time for jokes, Red. I'm getting antsy. I almost swung on a stranger yesterday for asking directions! What I'm getting at is there's gotta be someone you can have me fight. I don't care who, just anyone. At this rate it's going to start affecting my contracts." Shiki didn't beg anyone for anything, that wasn't his style. But damn was he getting close. So he pulled the "it'll affect my work" card, hoping Rias would buy into it.

Rias sighed. There really wasn't much she could do for him, her hands were tied. Though, thinking about it, there was one thing that might be able to sate him. At least for a little while. "Alright, how about I set up a spar then? Would that make you happy and get you focusing back on your assignments?"

If Shiki was the type to jump for joy he would have. Instead he just smirked, "Hell yeah, that's what I'm talking about. Who ya got?"

* * *

"Seriously?"

"What's the issue?"

"The issue is I was expecting more than Prince over there!" Shiki exclaimed, displeased by the opponent standing across the school's gymnasium. Rias had chosen the location due to its availability and because it would be "inconvenient" if a human being were to stumble on them. "What's next, you gonna have me fight Shorty after this?" He asked, gesturing to the diminutive white-haired girl currently sitting in the stands and snacking on dango with her normal bored expression, though she did adopt an annoyed look at the nickname Shiki had decided to give her.

"Don't be like that, Yukimura-kun. I assure you that I can more than hold my own." Kiba assured him, Kendo shinai in hand. He approached Shiki with a smile, raising the sword. "Let's have a good fight."

"Whatever you say, man." the brown haired boy replied dismissively. This wouldn't be much of a fight for him. Opponent had superior range thanks to that sword. Close in, disarm him, then knock him around for a while until he called for the match to end. Easy stuff, nothing he hadn't dealt with before. He'd fought people wielding weapons way more dangerous than a stick, this would be cake. "Call it whenever, Red."

Rias just shook her head at her servant's attitude. This would be a good lesson for him. "Alright. The match stops when one of you says "Stop" or when I say for it to end. Are you both ready?" She looked at Kiba and saw him adopt a serious expression before nodding. Then she turned to Shiki and received a bored nod from him as well. "Begin!"

Shiki wasted no time charging in, not even adopting anything resembling a fighting stance. That wasn't his "style". Hit hard, hit fast, hit unpredictability, and hit the opponent where it would hurt the most. No style, no finesse, just violence. A wild and unorthodox way of fighting that relied on neither style nor training, just his sharp reflexes, raw power, and incredible speed. That was what carried Yukimura Shiki through all of his real fights and it would be the same for this. Overwhelm the enemy with punches thrown at any and every conceivable angle. This spar would be no different.

Shiki closed in before Kiba could prepare himself, moving into a range where he wouldn't be able to swing his sword. 'Done already.' He thought victoriously, sure that this would be his win. Kiba didn't look the type to be able to take many punches, he'd set the pace with this opening shot and lay into him until Rias ended it. His right fist swung forward in an uppercut to knock the blonde haired prince out in one shot. His fist sliced through the air on a path towards Kiba's head.

And came up with nothing.

Kiba had just up and disappeared before the punch landed. "What the fu-" He felt something hitting him in the back and turned on reflex. There was Kiba, standing a few feet away from his original position, calm smile back in place as if nothing had happened. Not only had Shiki missed, Kiba had gotten in a blow of his own and then retreated, falling back into the same position he had started in. That burned him. Not that he missed, not even that Kiba countered his attack, it was the fact that he didn't press the advantage. Kiba had him dead to rights and he didn't even take the opportunity. "Fast little shit!" He growled out before charging in once more. He never once stopped to truly process the fact that Kiba was so fast he literally vanished right before his eyes, the only thing that mattered to him was knocking that damn grin off his face.

Punch after punch, swing after swing, all aimed at Kiba's head, all missing their target. One second Shiki would be perfectly within range, throwing a punch he was sure would land and the next he was just punching the air. Nothing was hitting and it was starting to infuriate him. Even when he finally gave up on head hunting and aimed for body blows to try and slow him down it didn't work. Nothing worked. Just one punch, just _one_ good shot was all he needed and he couldn't get it! Worse yet, every swing of Kiba's bamboo sword was starting to make itself known. Not at first, if anything he ignored it in the beginning, not feeling much if any pain from the first few strikes thanks to the adrenaline. Now that he was starting to cool down and his frustration was building he could feel bruises starting to form at the points of contact. He was sure if he were to check underneath his uniform his upper body would be a mess of angry red welts. On top of that his stamina was plummeting. He wasn't used to fights going this long, but then again he wasn't used to fighting people with literal superhuman levels of speed and agility either.

'It's like I'm getting stung to death by a fucking swarm of bees.' Shiki thought angrily, panting from exertion. This wasn't how he had expected the fight to go at all. This was supposed to be a quick KO victory in his favor and yet he hadn't landed a single punch. He set himself up to charge again when he heard a loud clap from the stands.

"Alright, that's enough."

Oh no, no, no, she was _not_ going to end it like this. "What the fuck are you talking about?! I can still go!" Shiki yelled to Rias, turning his glare from Kiba to her. Sure things were looking unfavorable but what did that matter when he could turn the tide in a single hit? He was set to argue his point when Rias replied.

"Shiki, its been 20 minutes since you two started and you haven't landed a single hit."

20 minutes?! She must have been exaggerating, it couldn't have been that long. Regardless of whether she was or wasn't it looked like Kiba was satisfied with the result as he was striding over to him, not a hair out of place. Didn't even look winded. Shiki would have loved nothing more than to curse him out in that moment but he wasn't sure he had the energy. "Let's just call it a draw." Kiba said as he offered a handshake, trying to lessen the blow to the boy's pride out of kindness.

"Don't give me that. If I lost have the decency to treat me like a man and say I lost. I don't need you to coddle me, you prince bastard." Shiki snapped back at him, refusing to shake his hand. He wasn't a child, even if he knew he was acting like one at that moment, and he refused be treated as such. Spar or not, there was winning and there was losing. He lost and, as much as it rankled him to admit it, that's all there was to it. Kiba's smile wavered a bit before nodding, lowering his hand. 'The closest I come to changing his expression and it's by being a dick. Fucking hell.' he thought with bitterness. "We done here or what?" he asked, calling out to Rias once more. He was exhausted, in no state for another opponent but he'd be damned if he admitted as much in front of any of them.

"Unless you'd like to spar with Koneko next, yes."

That made him pause as he took in what Rias proposed. Then he laughed. He laughed long and hard. "Are you serious? Are you really serious right now? You know, Prince I could understand at least on some level. Around the same age, in the same grade, almost the same height, it makes sense to have us fight but now you're going to really suggest having me fight someone that can't even come up to my chin?" Shiki was so preoccupied in his incredulity at what Rias suggested that he didn't notice Koneko's face change to one of annoyance again. "I mean come on, she's a little girl." She was getting up now and he still hadn't noticed. "You've said some crazy shit to me before but this one really-"

"Senpai."

He turned to finally look at the petite girl. Toujou Koneko, small girl, somewhere around 4 and a half feet, not even tall enough to reach his shoulders. White hair in a bob cut style, two bangs on the side long enough to reach her shoulders. Wore a cat-shaped hair clip. Held the title of "unofficial school mascot" due to how cute she was, which in all fairness was well earned. Wore the female uniform without that weird shoulder cape Rias and Akeno had. Had a real quiet personality too, never saying much to him any time he was in the club room, which wasn't often as he made it a point to never hang around the Occult Research Club for too long.

He opened his mouth to ask her what she wanted and quickly felt a pain only second to when he had been speared through by Yuuma as Koneko planted her fist right into his solar plexus. A punch with little held back, and he certainly felt it as his diaphragm contracted from the blow and his eyes went wide. The air was knocked out of his lungs and he doubled over, his head dropping just within Koneko's reach. A second punch, this time to the jaw, and he was out.

* * *

Shiki awoke with a groan, opening his eyes and immediately closing them as the bright gym lights blinded him. He idly noted that he was laying down, his body must have been moved from when he was unconscious as he could feel his back resting against the hard wood of the gym bleachers rather than pressed vinyl of the gym floor, and his head was resting on something soft as his hands came up to massage his jaw. Thankfully not broken.

"So, did you learn anything?" He groaned again as Rias' voice reached his ears. Cracking open his eyes once more just enough to see, he was greeted by the sight of Rias looming over him. He quickly judged by his position that his head was in her lap and tried to rise. "Easy, easy. It's only been a few minutes. Just relax."

"Where's Prince and Shorty?" Shiki asked, reluctantly laying back down and ignoring Rias' question. He was wincing at the pain shooting through his lower jaw with every word. Two ass-beatings back to back, one from someone that literally could not reach his face if he stood with his back straight. He felt like shit, probably looked even worse and his pride had taken a real hit.

"I let Yuuto and Koneko leave while you were unconscious. You're lucky Koneko caught you, if you had hit your head on the floor it could have been much worse. She's the one that carried you too."

"I'll be sure to thank her for the courtesy of making sure I _didn't_ crack my skull open on the ground after she knocked me out." Shiki replied back sarcastically. "You mind explaining to me how that happened? Or how I lost to Prince?"

"You underestimated both of them." Rias said plainly. "You thought because of your history of fighting all the time that Yuuto would be an easy opponent, one that hadn't been in as many fights as you. In reality, he's more experienced than you are by a wide margin." Shiki couldn't do anything other than raise an eyebrow. He didn't know Kiba had it in him, Shiki had always taken him as one of those "delicate" types. "For a lot of his life he's been fighting, in one way or another. Koneko as well. You didn't take her seriously because of her size. Their Pieces also had something to do with the way they defeated you."

"Pieces, right. The whole "Evil Piece" thing you told me about. Prince is a Knight, Shorty's a Rook. Speed and strength." He finally felt like he had the strength to rise to a sitting position and did so, eager to put some distance between himself and Rias. He may have been able to be somewhat cordial to her despite everything but they weren't friends and he had no intention on changing that any time soon. He kept things at a barely cordial work relationship between employer and employee and employers don't give their employees lap pillows. "Didn't think it would have such a huge effect."

"They do. However," she smiled at him reassuringly, "I have no doubt you'll catch up to them soon enough. You have a lot of potential. You did take all 8 of my Pawn Pieces after all."

"What you mean is that I have a Sacred Gear." Shiki answered back. "One that I still can't summon." Rias had explained to him what she knew of Sacred Gears on his first day and it had taken him for a ride. Weapons that could possibly threaten Devils, Angels and Fallen Angels and they were handed out randomly at birth by the universe to human beings. Completely damn insane. He had something that ridiculous inside of him and he just couldn't access it no matter what he did. "One I don't even know what the hell it is or what it does."

"I wasn't referring to just your Sacred Gear. You, despite rarely, if ever, training yourself, had an incredible amount of strength for a human. Your reflexes are top notch and your fighting instincts are sharp. You have all the tools of a natural born fighter." He grimaced as he took in everything Rias said. Even if she was complimenting him it didn't change the fact that she knew all of this because she had spied on him. It was still a sore spot for him, having his privacy being invaded on such a level. Those feelings mixed with the pride he felt at being acknowledged for his strength left him feeling off. "Even without your Sacred Gear you are something special. It's just a matter of building you up."

He shrugged off her attempt at reaching out to him and stood, almost toppling over. Koneko had really done a number on him, his brain was still scrambled pretty badly. He righted himself before Rias could offer her help and spoke. "Thanks for the attempt at a pep talk, Red." He mumbled. "I'm going home. Gonna sleep this off and try to wake up without brain damage. Later." He gave a half-hearted wave before walking out of the gym and leaving school premises, doing his best not to limp or stumble.

'Special, huh?' He thought as left the school campus. She hadn't been wrong in her analysis of him. When he was a human he didn't do any real physical conditioning. What was the point? Nobody he went up against could touch him. He'd step inside any concrete jungle and walk out after having beaten the biggest, baddest, and strongest they had to offer. His training was the fight itself, he hadn't needed anything else and thus never put forth the effort. Looked like that wasn't going to cut it anymore, not if he wanted to win. 'Devil life is such a pain in the ass.'

* * *

"Was there any real reason to bring me along on this?" Shiki asked, bored as he watched Akeno, labeled the "ultimate sadist" by Rias, electrocute the Stray Devil they were sent to hunt down with Lightning Magic. Viz-something, he hadn't been paying much attention on this little club field trip, partly because Rias hadn't let him actually do anything. He was there just to spectate, see and experience firsthand some of the responsibilities they had as Devils, which included hunting down monsters apparently. 'And frying them.' he noted dryly.

He had the small suspicion in the back of his head that for as "educational" this trip was supposed to be it was also a warning being issued. "Do not become a Stray Devil or you'll be hunted down and killed.", something along those lines. That was just fine, he had discarded the idea of becoming a Stray Devil almost as quickly as he had considered it when Rias explained the concept. Devils who killed their Masters and went wild, mutating into horrific beasts because they couldn't regulate their power. He could maybe deal with the extra appendages if he had to but being hunted like an animal for the rest of his life wasn't something he was interested in and the possibility that his family might be put in harm's way or used as bait to lure him out put him off it entirely.

Even putting those issues aside, he didn't have it in him to kill Rias. She had irrevocably and irreversibly changed his life, for the better or worse he hadn't decided yet, and it had angered him to no end to be made a slave but to go so far as to kill her for it? He couldn't. He wasn't a murderer, some monster that just killed people because it would be more convenient for him. If that meant working under her for a while until he was promoted to High Class and on his own then so be it.

"I mean, it's fun and all to watch S-san cook something that shoots magic lasers from her nipples but I'm bored now. Can I leave?" Shiki requested. If he wasn't there to fight then he wasn't interested anymore, he could have been at home catching up on his sleep. Being out all night handling contracts was starting to wear him out and it didn't help that he was still in that pesky "sunlight will make you incredibly exhausted" early stage of his Devil lifetime. Rias had told him that his body would adjust until sunlight was a non-issue and he was still waiting on that to kick in. Then there was the fact that he had actually started to try working out and he was really burning the candle at both ends.

"Ara ara, Yukimura-kun's given me such an interesting nickname." Akeno laughed, finally ending her shock treatment on the Stray Devil when Rias told her it was enough. She looked over to Shiki with half-lidded eyes, smiling with a blush on her cheeks. She began walking over to him, a slight sway to her hips to tease him and the teen quickly backed away.

"Oi, don't even think about it. I don't have a problem with you being some crazy sadist that gets off on making people extra crispy but you sure as hell won't be doing it to me." the fledgling Devil warned. It was an empty threat and he knew it. He couldn't even take on Kiba or Koneko, what chance would he have against the Queen? Probably less than 0 but that didn't mean he wouldn't go down swinging. If a Pawn could kill a King then it oughta be able to scuff up a Queen if it came down to it, right?

Akeno just smiled wider, "If you protest like that it just makes me want to tease you more. Don't worry, I promise to be gentle." Shiki's eyes darted to Rias, looking for some kind of assistance.

"That's enough, Akeno. We didn't come here to mess around." At Rias' reprimand Akeno stopped and apologized. She didn't lose the teasing look in her eyes which didn't put Shiki at ease but she made no further pushes, thankfully. Rias stepped forward, walking over to the charred but still breathing Stray. "Any last words, Stray Devil Viser?" Shiki heard the battered, broken mess of a monster ask for death and Rias was quick to grant it. A red and black mass of demonic power shot from the magic circle appearing before Rias' outstretched hand and vaporized Viser on the spot, leaving not even a speck of blood. "Checkmate."

Shiki couldn't stop himself from giving a small laugh. ""Checkmate."? Really? Aren't you supposed to say your super cool badass one-liner _before_ you deal the finishing blow and not after so they can actually hear it?" He laughed again when Rias looked at him with annoyance for ruining the moment. "Sorry, would you have preferred a "Wow Buchou you're so cool!"? Is that better?" Shiki asked rhetorically in a fake, high-pitched voice. To her credit Rias didn't rise to take his bait, simply striding out of the building with the rest of the group. Koneko had the same neutral expression as always while Kiba and Akeno looked at him with amusement. At least somebody was appreciating his jokes.

"Everyone is dismissed for today." Shiki heard Rias say as they exited. "Meet in the club room when classes end tomorrow, the same as usual. And actually go to class this time, Shiki. I can't keep covering for your absences." He'd been ditching class to work out lately, trying to make up for years of going without. In his old life he'd have never considered it because ditching class would have drawn unwanted attention but what did it matter now? The whole damn school wouldn't shut up about his walking to school with Rias almost two weeks ago, everyone was already looking at him oddly, and he had become a Devil, his life was already a mess. Might as well make the most out of his time and put it towards something more productive than book-learning. He gave Rias a non-committal grunt as he walked off, acknowledging that he heard her but not making any promises.

* * *

He could feel it in his bones, eyes drilling holes into his back, a chill creeping up his spine as he walked home. This sort of killing intent was pretty intense, whoever it was really wanted to take him out. It was almost enough to make him tremble in anticipation. Whoever this was, he hoped they would put up a good fight. He stopped walking and called out to his observer, "So you gonna watch me all night or do you feel like coming down here and doing something?" And then he heard it behind him. The sound of wings beating through the air, the same as that night that felt so long ago, coming from behind him. His teeth clenched in anger. 'Back to try and finish the job, bitch?'

"How unfortunate for you." A deep voice answered him. "I was out on a walk to calm myself and what do I find but one of your kind. It must be my lucky day." Shiki spun to face the source of the voice and was greeted by the sight of a man with black wings descending to the ground. He appeared middle-aged with short black hair and piercing blue eyes, dressed in a pale gray trench coat, black pants and a fedora. Definitely not Yuuma. Damn. "I'll commend you on not trying to flee. Tell me, boy, who is your Master? Answer quickly or I may just mistake you for a Stray."

"You're not as lucky as you think, geezer." Shiki fired back. "No Strays here. Actually no, there was one about an hour ago. Real ugly looking bitch too, all claws and fangs, screaming about how we smelled delicious. My boss killed her in one shot. You might know her, last name's Gremory? That name ringing any bells in your head or has middle age done too much damage to your brain?"

"Watch your tongue or I'll have it out, boy." The older man snapped. "Gremory, huh? How disappointing, I can't just kill you without causing issues. Very well then, I'll allow you to go free. Tell your Master to be more careful with her playthings. If she leaves them to roam unattended someone like me may decide to kill them." His wings expanded and he took to the sky once more. "My name is Dohnaseek, boy. Pray that we never meet again."

"Ditto, _old man_." the Devil replied, stressing the last two words. "If I ever see you again I might just lose my cool and tear out those filthy wings of yours." With one last glare at the young man that he couldn't kill without facing backlash, the now dubbed Dohnaseek flew off into the night, presumably looking for something to vent his frustrations on. And with that minor disruption over with, Shiki continued on his walk home, almost wishing that the Fallen Angel had tried attacking him so he'd have a reason to fight. He resigned himself to a late night workout when he got home instead, hoping that would work off the anxiety he was feeling at being denied yet another brawl.

* * *

"Whoever thought the Sun was a good idea should be shot." Shiki grumbled under his breath as he walked to school. Another day, same exhaustion. It wouldn't be so bad if the Sun didn't sap all of his energy every damn day. Between that and all of his Devil work he was burning out fast, then add training on top of that and it felt like a miracle that he even had the strength to get out of bed. He had been tempted to skip school today, just take a day for himself and spend it however he liked. He decided it wasn't really worth it, Rias would just give him grief, then Shitori would lecture his ear off, and he finally didn't have anything to do other than sleep and exercise. Maybe he really did need a new hobby...

"Hawaau!"

'The fuck was that?' was the first thought in Shiki's mind upon hearing a shout from behind him accompanied by the sound of something falling to the ground. 'Why the hell is it _always_ something behind me? So much for always keeping my guard up.' Turning his head in the direction the sound was coming from and choked at the sight that greeted him. Some girl, he _hoped_ it was a girl at least, had fallen in such a way that her dress had flipped up, putting her white panty-clad ass on display as she laid face down on the ground. 'How do you even fall like that? No, this isn't my problem, just walk away.' He heard the poor girl whimper in pain on the ground as she tried to rise off the asphalt.

"Oi, girl. You gonna be okay?"

Damn it all.

"Y-yes, I'll be fine." a soft voice called back to him. She clearly wouldn't be considering she was still on the ground, so with an exasperated sigh Shiki walked over to her. Grabbing her by the arm, he yanked her up to her feet, holding her so she wouldn't topple over again, he finally took note of her outfit and froze up.

'A nun. I ran into a nun, I can't freaking believe this.' the brown haired boy laughed in his head at the chances. Of all the possible types of people he could encounter on a walk to school it had to be someone from the Church. A gust of wind blew the veil right off the girl's head but didn't make it far, Shiki's hand moving quickly to grab it out of the air before it could fly away. It did give him a glimpse at what was previously hidden and he took in her entire appearance.

Golden blonde hair with incredible green eyes that seemed to shine, a dangerous combo. Tall enough to come up to his chin, he put her somewhere around five feet tall. Dark teal nun outfit that didn't do much to hide the girl's nice figure, brown satchel on her right hip and plain brown shoes, with a silver cross necklace hanging in front of her chest. Just looking at the cross gave him a bad feeling, like it'd jump off of the girl and attack him for being an unholy being. He ignored it and his eyes flicked back to her face.

'Correction, I ran into a cute nun.' He offered the veil back to her, receiving a thank you in return to which he gave a nod before walking away. He had done his good deed for the day, time to split.

"U-um, excuse me, sir?"

Or not. He looked over his shoulder, "Yeah, what is it?"

"I was looking for the local Church. I'm new to this country and I was wondering if you could give me directions? I can't speak Japanese very well and can't really understand what people are saying so I got lost..." the blonde haired, green-eyed nun shyly said, hopeful he could provide some assistance.

Well this put him on the spot, didn't it? Help someone affiliated with the Church, aka one of the sworn enemies of Devils, or continue on his merry way to a mind-numbingly boring day at school. Not to mention helping out a nun would piss off Rias something fierce on two levels because he'd definitely be late at this rate. Late to school because he decided to help a nun find a Church. Yep, his decision was already made.

"Sure, I know the place. It's on the outer part of town. I'll take you to it."

Naturally he'd choose the option that would anger the red-haired King the most.

"R-really, you will? Thank you! To have met someone as kind as you, it must be thanks to God!" she exclaimed happily, hands clasped in front of her chest. Shiki bit back a laugh at that comment and the irony of it. "Oh, I'm being rude, I still haven't introduced myself. My name is Asia Argento, it's nice to meet you!"

* * *

 **Author's Note: Quick and small author's note. This chapter was rushed in that I'm eager to get all the character introductions for the major players out of the way. I'm more comfortable writing interactions when the characters know and can play off one another but I can't do that when they're strangers so I'm pushing forward a bit faster than usual. Speaking of which, to preemptively answer any questions as to why Shiki is acting so casually around the ORC, he isn't. He makes jokes at their expense, he's rude, cocky, brash, basically a complete cock to all of them. The way he sees it, they can't get rid of him and he can't get rid of them so he might as well just say whatever comes to mind without any sort of filter. It's only "casual" in that he doesn't care what he says to them or what they say to him, it's not a relationship built on any actual friendship or camaraderie on his end at this point.**

 **Also you may noticed the fight scene was a bit lackluster. I'm not good at them. I'm trying to work at that. For a better visual idea of how Shiki fights, think of something similar to** **Naseem Hamed (the boxer) and Bryan Hawk (from Hajime no Ippo, based on Naseem). Those are the two biggest inspirations for his style, or rather lack thereof.**

 **Anyway, read, review, send questions too if you feel like it. I still need a beta for this thing so if you've got extensive DxD knowledge and/or experience with the series, too much free time and feel like volunteering then hit up my PMs.**


	4. A Priest and a Date

"Are you insane?!"

"Okay, first off, you can stop yelling. Second, the hell are you losing your shit about?" Shiki asked, annoyed at Rias holding him up. He had already picked out his next contract and was getting ready to head out when Rias had asked him why he was late to class. When he informed her that he had spent the morning helping a nun find a Church Rias had almost blew her top, just like he expected (and wanted). "I didn't restart the damn Great War so what are you flipping for?"

"Do you have _any_ idea how your actions could be construed?" Rias asked her Pawn, not sure if he was acting like this to intentionally anger her or he had taken a leave of his common sense. "The Church is enemy territory, do you understand that? Do you understand that they're watched by Heaven and that abandoned Churches are frequently used as bases by Fallen Angels? You're lucky to have not been killed! It's likely that the Angels didn't take action because you were doing a nun a favor and escorting her without an ulterior motive but in any other circumstance they would have had no problem attacking you."

Shiki snorted. "Okay, first off, I don't know if you forgot this in your little rant but we're Devils. Both of those groups _already_ want to kill us, Red. Secondly, I _didn't_ get attacked so, again, what the hell are you losing your shit about? Chill out." Shiki's eyes flicked to the rest of the Occult Research Club who were watching the argument awkwardly. He hadn't expected an audience for this but didn't care one way or another. If anything it was better for them to be there, let them all know at once he was just as defiant as always and that nothing had changed since day 1. He wouldn't bow his head in subservience to anyone and these people weren't his friends.

"Do you have a death wish? Is that it? Do you not understand that I am trying to keep you _alive?!_ " Rias questioned, quickly growing incensed at Shiki's flippant attitude and his refusal to understand the gravity of what he had done.

"Oh please, step down off of the high horse and grace us mere mortals with your presence. Don't act like you're keeping me alive for _me_ , you're keeping me alive because _you_ already spent the 8 Pawn Pieces to bring me back. This is all motivated by your own self-interest. You don't want _me_ to croak because it'd inconvenience _you_ and you're losing it at me helping Asia and getting so close to a Church because it could reflect badly on _you._ " he fired back, putting everything on the table and making his true feelings on the matter known. Rias looked shocked at what he said, genuinely affronted that he thought so little of her.

"That's not-" Rias began before she was cut off.

"As for Fallen Angels, they wouldn't do a damn thing regardless. If they wanted to make a move then that fedora-wearing crow jackass would have done something instead of running away last night." he finished. The silence was so great Shiki was sure he could hear a pin drop.

"You came into contact with a Fallen Angel?!" Oh, right. He hadn't actually told her about that yet. If Rias was angry before she was quickly approaching nuclear. "Shiki," she started loudly before stopping herself and taking a deep breath to calm down, continuing in a more composed voice, "I wish you had told me about that. As your King it's my duty to look after you." Shiki was ready to cut her off once more but Rias struck first, "And regardless of whether or not you think it's motivated by self-interest I am trying to _help_ you, but you're not making this easy by acting like a child."

Now it was Shiki's turn to get angry. "Oh, _I'm_ the child here? _Me?_ I'm not the one freaking the fuck out over nothing! I'm still breathing, the Angels are still up in Heaven doing fuck-all, the Fallen Angels are in whatever shithole bird's nest they've made for themselves so what the hell is your deal?" Shiki fired up the teleportation circle in the center of the room, "You're just mad because for once in your spoiled princess life you can't have things done your way. Why don't _you_ grow up?" With that parting line he was gone, only catching a glimpse of Rias' face before he was teleported to the client's house.

The look of hurt on her face as he disappeared, even in his anger he felt a little bad for taking a shot like that. He quickly buried such feelings. Guilt was a luxury he couldn't afford, not in his position.

* * *

In a flash of crimson light Shiki appeared in the client's house, their living room to be precise and within a few moments he knew something was wrong. The air in this house, it had this weird metal scent to it. Whatever, wasn't his place to judge how the client stank up his house, even if it made his nose scrunch up in distaste. "Yo, client. You call for a Devil?" Shiki asked casually to who he assumed was his summoner. Some guy with white hair, not even looking at him, sitting on the sofa.

"Not me. Him though, he might be who you're looking for~." the white-haired man said in a sing-song voice, pointing behind Shiki.

'Great, got another fucking weirdo.' He turned around to look at whatever was being pointed at and immediately wished he hadn't. A corpse. A mutilated corpse nailed to the wall, stomach slit open to expose the intestines that were currently in a pile on the ground before it. Nails had been driven into its hands, both feet and the hole in the corpse's stomach, posing it in the shape of a cross. Shiki almost puked from the sight of it, finally realizing that what he smelt when he walked in wasn't metal, it was blood. So much blood he could almost taste the iron in it in the air. Written on the wall, in what he presumed was the victim's own blood, were words in a foreign language he didn't recognize.

"What the fuck?"

"You like it? It says "Punishment for the wicked." They're not my words but I think they fit pretty well here, don't you think? I think it comes together to make a real work of art." Shiki twisted his head back around to look at the speaker, who had finally risen from his seat and began walking over to him. He looked to be a teenager around the same age as him. "I hadn't expected a Devil-kun to arrive but here you are!" He spoke, tongue hanging from his mouth in a twisted expression. It was his red eyes that truly froze Shiki to the spot. Wide, but focused. Joyful yet filled with loathing. For all the emotions his eyes conveyed, they were _all_ tinged with complete insanity. He had seen crazy before but this was another level, this was a man utterly unhinged.

The stranger did a mock bow to him, hand over his heart, "My name is Freed Sellzen. Please don't introduce yourself though, I don't want to have the name of a filthy Devil swimming around in my brain." And just as quickly as he composed himself, he was jumping up and down, hands waving wildly as he began to sing. "I'm just a boy priest~ I cut down all the bad little boys and girls~ I cut the heads off of you Devils~ it's such a wonderful way to earn my pay~"

"A priest? _You're_ a priest?!" Shiki exclaimed in shock. Judging by his clothes he seemed to be telling the truth, he was wearing some sort of clerical outfit which was a huge mismatch with how he was acting.

"Well I'm damn sure not some good for nothing worthless piece of shit Devil like you." Freed said with a menacing wide smile, stepping forward. "That guy over there, he was punished for consorting with Devils. Once a human does that then that's it, it's over! End of the road! That's why I was so happy to get rid of him!"

"What the fuck is wrong with you?! How can you do something like that to a human being and be so happy?"

"Eh? Devil-kun is lecturing me? You're weird, aren't you? Lemme explain it then, shitty Devil. If a human being makes a deal with a Devil then they're no longer a human being, they're just garbage. Devils and the humans that summon them, I make a living off of killing them both!" Freed reached into his coat and pulled out what looked like the handle of a sword and a gun. "And now I get to kill you, Devil-kun! It'll be great, I promise!" A sound similar to something vibrating began to emit from the handle until blade of pure white energy sprung forth. Without hesitating Freed leapt forward, slashing at Shiki who jumped back to dodge. "Stay still, little Devil-kun! I'll stab you through the heart with this beautiful sword and blow your heard off with this cool gun!"

Freed pressed forward and slashed again, Shiki dodging once more before seeing the priest point his gun at him, jumping back before the bullet fired could pierce through his leg. "You're fast, Devil-kun," Freed took aim once more, this time at his head, "but I'm so much faster!" The bullet grazed Shiki's cheek as he moved his head out of the way and almost immediately he felt the effects of what he recognized to be some kind of bullet made of light. For a brief moment his body felt heavy, his senses dulled, he lost his balance and that was all Freed needed to move in. "Bye bye!"

'Fuck, fuck, fuck! I can't get out of the way, fuck!' Shiki cursed again and again in his thoughts, desperately trying to will his legs to move, bend, do anything they could to prevent his imminent death. He had been taken off guard by Freed's gun and now the madman was coming to take his head off his shoulders with his sword. 'If I could just move I could beat this fucker! I just need the power to move!'

And then he felt it, pulsating underneath his skin. It started at his right fist and ended at the forearm, the feeling of something desperately clawing and scratching to get out. He flashed back to what Rias said about his Sacred Gear, something he hadn't thought about in days. That if it wouldn't come when he called for it then it would come when he most desired it. When he most wished for strength, his Sacred Gear would manifest. It had finally arrived and did so with a flash of light and a thunderous cry.

 **[BOOST!]**

Power flooded through his body, power the likes of which he'd never felt before. More than enough to go on the counterattack, especially when Freed had stopped his attack out of surprise that his enemy had summoned a Sacred Gear. Shiki pushed as much strength as he could into his legs and rushed forward before Freed could get his bearings, delivering a vicious overhand punch to his cheek with enough power to send him crashing into the same wall he had nailed the corpse to.

"So Devil-kun has a Sacred Ge-" Shiki didn't let him finish whatever taunt he was going to come up with, pressing into back into the wall with a shoulder tackle before slamming his Sacred Gear-covered fist right into his liver with a hook. The effect was almost instantaneous as he heard Freed gasp before the sound of the both the gun and the sword dropping to the ground reached his ears, making him smirk. An enemy in his range, disarmed, he had just summoned his Sacred Gear and he had a lot of frustration to work off.

This was going to be a fun time.

He felt Freed move to try and drive an elbow into his spine and backed away quickly, putting just enough distance between them for Freed to miss and stumble forward as his legs struggled to support his weight while he was still gasping for air. Freed's head dipped low and Shiki didn't hesitate to throw an uppercut, snapping Freed's head up before sending it twisting to the side with another hook. He readied another punch to the face but Freed was fast to pull his arms up to guard. More, he wanted more. More power, enough to break this little fuck's guard and make him hurt even more. Then he heard it again, a sound from the gauntlet encasing his fist as it answered his wish.

 **[BOOST!]**

If the first hit of his Sacred Gear's power was like nothing he'd felt previous then the second was a shot of pure adrenaline as excitement filled his eyes. He felt so damn _strong_ right now, like nothing could touch him. He slammed his left fist into Freed's guard, making the priest's arms shake from the impact before snaking his palm in-between the gap between his arms, yanking one to the side to expose his face again. "Not good enough!" He decked the priest before the hand that had broken his guard came up with another punch, overhand now. "What's wrong, Judas Priest?!" Another punch to the face, this time a jab. "You don't wanna fight anymore?!" Hook to the body again, Freed's body practically bending from the force of it. "Am I too good for you?! Huh, huh, huh?!" Hard punch to the nose, savoring the feeling of cartilage and bone giving way before his fist as his nose broke. "You know, I'm not really into the whole sadism shit but this is really getting my blood pumping!"

Freed tried to throw a counter punch to at least create some distance between them but Shiki quickly responded by grabbing his arm and flipping him, planting him on the floor and on his back before mounting him. He grabbed his white hair with his left hand and, dragging his head off the ground, cocked back his right hand to smash the Priest's face. "Don't struggle, Priest-kun," he said, mimicking and mocking Freed's speech from before, "this will be great, I promise!" But before he could throw another punch he heard a scream and instinctively turned his head to it. It was her, the girl from this morning.

"Asia? What the hell are you doing here?!" Shiki asked with wide eyes as he took his attention off of Freed for one second.

That one second was all the priest needed as he curled his hand into a fist and punched with as much force as he could right into Shiki's genitals. His jaw dropped and he briefly saw stars appear in his vision before he felt the sensation of being thrown off of Freed's body and onto the blood-soaked wood floor. Freed quickly scrambled to his gun, grabbing it and shooting half-blindly at Shiki, scoring a shot through right leg that dropped the Devil as he tried to regain his balance. Shiki clamped down on the urge to scream as he felt the light sear his insides, the pain was almost blinding.

"Thanks for the save, Asia-chan. I knew it was right to bring you along." Freed mumbled through his damaged jaw and shattered nose, voice coming out nasally and half-gurgled through all the blood. One of his eyes was swollen shut, blood trickling from his scalp as well as pouring out of his nose and mouth. If his face was horrific before then it looked downright monstrous now. "Did you set up the magical barrier like I told you to?"

Shiki couldn't believe it. That overly, almost painfully, sweet nun from just earlier that day working with a psychopath with Freed? That was insane and he voiced such thoughts without hesitation. "Asia, you work with this guy? Do you have any idea what he does to people?" he asked through the pain of feeling his leg burn before gesturing to the wall where Freed's "masterpiece" was nailed to. He saw the horror and terror cross her face as she took in the sight of the desecrated corpse.

"F-Father Freed, what is this?"

"Oh right, you're still new to this job. Look carefully, Asia-chan! That's what happens to bad people that become entranced by Devils! Anyone that falls for their wiles, it's our job to kill 'em!" Freed said manically, seemingly gaining a second wind as he spoke of murdering people. "This shit right here," Freed pointed his gun at Shiki, "came here to lure another human further down that rabbit hole so it's a good thing I killed him before it was too late!"

"Shiki-san, you're..."

"Huh? You two know each other? Oh that's a surprise, a forbidden romance between Devil-kun and Sister Asia-chan! That's kinda disgusting, now that I think about it."

Shiki put Freed out of his mind and focused just on Asia as he struggled to get to his feet, unable to put any weight on the leg with the bullet wound. Any time he tried the pain would throb through his entire body, making him feel on the verge of blacking out. "Not the best time for a grand reveal but better late than never, eh? You probably realized now why I couldn't accept your invite inside the Church." he joked, trying to take as much sting out of this as possible for the nun's sake. She wasn't a bad person in his eyes and didn't deserve this situation being dumped on her. "Judas Priest over there isn't lying. I'm a Devil. Sorry."

"Ehhhh, what is this touchy-feeling bullshit garbage? This is so gross." Freed mocked, trying to laugh but only producing a wheeze that made Shiki smirk at him, happy to see the effects of the beating he'd given him. "Devils and humans can't ever coexist, especially humans from the Church! And that's not even mentioning that we need the protection of the Fallen Angels just to get by now that we've been abandoned by God!"

'Fallen Angels?' Shiki's mind instinctively went to Yuuma. 'This crazy son of a bitch works for her...' His face began to twist in rage as he felt anger course through his veins. His fist clenched as he thought about the Fallen Angel that had taken his life and put him in this situation to begin with. 'Everything is that fucking crow bitch's fault!' Before he could work himself up into even further anger he felt the tip of Freed's light sword just barely against the skin of his neck.

"Hope you're ready for this, Devil-kun! Well even if you're not I don't care anymore. Anyone that hurts me like this can go die a shitty death!" Freed barked before pulling back his sword and readying himself to swing it down and decapitate the Devil on his knees before him.

Unfortunately before he could Asia dashed out in front of said Devil, arms spread out as if to protect him. The priest adopted a look of anger at this. "Oi, Asia-chan. Do you know what you're doing right now? Are you serious?"

"Father Freed, please spare him. Please forgive him and let him go. Please!"

'Asia, what the hell are you doing? Move, you idiot!' Shiki thought desperately as he looked at her in shock. The blonde sacrificing herself for his sake was something he couldn't stomach. If he was going to die then it'd be better to not drag her down too. He heard Freed question Asia once more if she fully understood the implications of what she was doing.

"He may be a Devil but he's a good person! And… and you can't just kill people that summon Devils! It's wrong! God won't forgive such a thing!"

That was the wrong thing to say as Freed's expression became one of umbrage. "Are you stupid? Are you just that dumb? This is something even preschoolers learn, Devils are garbage. Learn to use your brain! You know, the higher ups already told me I can't kill you but that doesn't mean I can't rough you up a little, Asia-chan!" he roared, light sword blazing as he moved to attack Asia. He didn't get the chance, as soon as he raised his sword Shiki shoved Asia to the side and delivered a furious haymaker straight to Freed's jaw before collapsing, finally spent. His leg was burning, all of the previous strength he felt before had evaporated. One way or another this was over.

"You're going to die painfully, you know?" Dammit, he was getting up again. "I'll make sure it really, really, really hurts, okay? Hold still and die screaming, Devil-kun!" the priest exclaimed before leaping into the air, ready to split the brunette in two. "Eh?" Freed made a noise of questioning as a magic circle appeared before the Devil he was intent on carving up.

Shiki watched in amazement as it grew and expanded rapidly until a person came flying out of it, stopping Freed's light sword with a sword of their own. "Kiba?"

"So you _do_ know my name, Yukimura-kun. Don't worry, we're here to help."

"Ara ara, how awful."

"Exorcist..."

Akeno and Koneko came through the circle as well. They had come to save him. Kiba spoke again, "Sorry, he's with us."

Freed just let out one of his crazed laughs. "So that's how it is? All the Devils are here, this is great. Tell me, since you're the one coming to save his skin does that mean you're the top and he's the bottom? Is that your relationship?"

Kiba and Shiki both glared at Freed in equal measures of disgust. "What a vulgar mouth. I can't believe you're a priest. Is that why you're a Stray Exorcist?" Kiba pushed back against Freed's sword.

"Yeah I'm pretty vulgar, sorry! I strayed away, I got kicked out! That's why, fuck the Vatican! Fuck God! So long as I can cut up Devils like you whenever I want then I'll always be happy! Don't talk down to me, pests! Just be good little Devils and die!"

"Even Devils have rules." Akeno said, smile in place but eyes deadly serious. Even without having it directed at him Shiki could feel the killing intent she was radiating. Freed jumped but not out of fright, it seemed more out of glee than anything.

"Onee-san, I love that intense stare of yours. You're the best, I can really feel your want to kill me. Is this love? No, it's killing intent! I'm so excited, it doesn't matter whether I'm killing or being killed!"

"You should disappear then." Rias appeared last from the circle, her magic destroying the area where Freed was previously standing as he dodged. She spoke to her Pawn without looking at him, watching Freed and waiting to attack once more. "Shiki, I'm sorry. I never thought a Stray Exorcist would attack a client. We would have come sooner but there was a barrier until only a few moments ago. Are you wounded?"

"If you really want to apologize," Shiki forced himself to stand on his own two feet, ignoring the Rias question on his condition, "do me a favor and leave him alive enough for me to beat down. I'm seriously pissed off right now and I won't be happy till I cave that fuck's face in."

Rias laughed, "I can arrange that. Tell me something, Stray Exorcist. Were you the one messing around with my stubborn little Pawn?" Stubborn? _Little_? Oh she was definitely getting an earful from Shiki when they were out of there. "I won't forgive anyone that hurts my servants, especially when they're as vulgar as you."

"Sooooorry, Onee-san!" Freed responded, dragging out his false apology to taunt her. "We were playing a bit rough and I decided I really wanted to cut him into itty-bitty pieces after what he did to my face but then I was interrupted and my dream disappeared before I could realize it!" Freed dodged another blast of Rias' magic. "Oh man, you're pretty strong. This is almost looking bad for me. Unless..." A magic circle appeared over the ceiling, one Shiki didn't recognize. "Ohhhhh you're fucked now! The cavalry's finally arriving!" Freed cackled wildly.

"Buchou, there are several Fallen Angels approaching this area." Akeno warned, her eyes displaying even more anger than they had before. "At this rate we'll be at a disadvantage."

"Retrieving Shiki is the top priority. We're returning, prepare for teleportation." Rias ordered. Kiba, Koneko and Akeno nodded before drawing back, Koneko flinging a sofa at Freed and flattening him.

"What the hell?" Shiki muttered, causing Rias to look at him in confusion. "What the hell are you doing? Grab her too!" His eyes darted over to Asia, who was watching them from the same position she was in when he flung her to the ground before Freed could attack her. Rias followed his eyes and looked upon the blonde haired girl. "We can't just leave her with that fucking psycho! Grab her and we can leave!"

"I'm sorry, Shiki. Only Devils can use this magic circle to teleport, and this one can only move myself and my servants."

"What?! What the fuck kind of inconvenient magic is that?! Then just pick her up and we'll leave normally! We still have a head start if we go right now!"

"We can't, it's too much of a risk."

"Then let me go and I'll do it myself!" Before Shiki could leap out of the magic circle Koneko restrained him, pulling him back. "Fucking let go of me! Let go, dammit!" he screamed, trying to reach out to the nun. She had risked her life to save his, literally stepping in the line of fire to plead for his life from a homicidal maniac, and he was supposed to just leave her behind? This girl who so easily placed her life on the line was going to be abandoned and he couldn't stop it, how could he accept such a thing?

"Shiki-san," he froze and stopped his struggling stopping as he looked at Asia as she spoke with tears in her eyes, "let's meet again, okay?" and then they were gone.

* * *

"She seemed like a nice girl." Rias said quietly, bare body pressed against Shiki's back with her arms wrapped around his front as she used her magic to heal his wounds.

"She jumped in the way." At Rias questioning look he elaborated. "Freed, when he went to kill me. Asia jumped in the way and protected me. She begged him to let me go. Stupid girl, risking her life for me like that. Even when she found out I was a Devil she was so dead-set on trying to protect me." Shiki finished morosely. "Stupid, stupid, stupid."

"It isn't your fault." Rias tried to reassure him, a bit awkward since not too long ago they had a huge fight.

"It _is_ my fault. I should have killed him. I should have wrapped my hands around the priest's throat as soon as I started winning and strangled him until the little cocksucker stopped breathing. I had a chance and I didn't take it."

"You were winning?" Rias faked surprise as a joke, eager to turn the conversation away from the nun her Pawn felt he failed to save. She had seen him angry before but this was different, this was anger aimed largely at himself. It was different from the cocky, sarcastic, always-looking-for-a-fight Pawn she was used to and, even if they had their differences, she didn't want to see him beating himself up.

"You don't have to sound so surprised, you know. But yeah, I was. Had the bastard dead to rights when I summoned my Sacred Gear." Rias looked at him in shock. "Oh, did I not mention? Yeah, I finally got it." Shiki summoned it once more and truly examined it for the first time, not having had the opportunity to in combat, just feeling that it was something encasing his fist and getting small glimpses of it when he punched Freed in the face. A clawed red gauntlet with a green jewel on the back of its hand, it covered down to his elbow and had two large golden spikes. His Sacred Gear had finally arrived.

"Incredible." Rias said with amazement. "Do you know what it does or what its name is?"

"Not a fucking clue what its name is. Can tell you this much though, it's good. It's _real_ good. It was like someone flipped a switch and suddenly I had all the power in the world. It was incredible. Oh, and it said something. Can't really remember what it was though. "Boost!"? Something like that. It said it twice. That tell you anything on what it might be?"

Rias' eyes widened but she kept her voice level. "A bit. I'll have to do some more research to confirm my suspicions."

"Got it. So… You mind explaining again why we both had to get naked to do this?" Shiki asked lamely before realizing he had raised his hand when showing off his Sacred Gear. He quickly pushed it back down to cover his manhood out of embarrassment.

"It's the only way I know how to heal your wounds. I did this on the night I reincarnated you as well." Rias let go of him and stood. "We're about done. You should be fine now, but don't move around too much or you'll aggravate your wounds." She moved to leave and give him some privacy to dress himself. "Shiki." The boy turned his head to look at Rias as she called his name. "Take the day off tomorrow. I'll handle any complaints or problems it causes, just get some rest, okay?" Shiki could read between the lines and understood what was being left unsaid.

 _Don't try to rescue her._

Rias wrapped a towel around her naked body and opened the door to leave. "Oi, Red." Rias turned back to look at him His back was still to her as he spoke. "Thanks." She looked at him confused and asked what he was thanking her for. "For bailing me out, and for trying to cheer me up. Thanks." Rias just smiled and left him to his thoughts.

'I hate it.' He thought of his loss to Freed, and how Asia threw herself in the Exorcist's path to defend him. 'I hate it.' Having to be saved by the Occult Research Club. 'I hate it.' The tears in Asia's eyes as she goodbye to him, being left to whatever horrible fate Freed and the Fallen Angels had in store for her.

"I hate it."

* * *

Shiki milled around the park aimlessly. Rias had given him the day to himself, no school, no Devil work, but he had nothing to do. Couldn't even train unless he wanted to explain to her why his wounds had reopened. With nothing better to do he decided to get some fresh air in an attempt to clear his head. It wasn't working. All it did was fuel his frustration as his mind kept going back to last night.

'I couldn't save Asia. Twice in one night I had to have my life saved by someone else. What happened to being _strong_ , Yukimura?' the Devil thought bitterly to himself. His mind drifted to the day he died, when he felt on top of the world. Back when he thought there was no one left in Kuoh that could even challenge him. 'And now look at me. Haven't won a single fight I've been in since becoming a Devil. "No one left to challenge me", what a fucking joke.'

He sat on the park bench and looked up the sky, not even in the mood to glare at the sun in his usual manner for taking his energy. 'I have to get stronger. Learn how to use my Sacred Gear and get so strong nobody will be able to even touch me.' He dropped his gaze and looked forward once more. 'Then… Then I'll-' his thoughts stopped as a familiar blonde caught his eye. He couldn't believe it. "Asia? Is that you?"

"Shiki-san?

* * *

Shiki had to stop himself from laughing outright. This girl, she really was sheltered. "Asia, you just take off the wrapper. It's not that hard." he said, a slight tremor to his voice as he fought against the smile creeping up on his face, not wanting her to think he was laughing at her. He demonstrated for Asia by taking the wrapper off his own burger and taking a huge bite out of it. "See?" He idly wondered how bad his table manners must be considering he was talking with his mouth full in front of a literal nun. His mother would have lost it if she could see him now. Oh well.

"O-oh, that's amazing!" Shiki wondered what kind of life this girl must have had that eating a burger was such a fascinating sight. "I had no idea there were foods you could eat like this!" She undid the wrapper on her own burger and brought it to her face before taking a small bite. Her eyes lit up and she smiled, "Delicious!"

"You never eat a burger before?"

"N-no, I haven't. Before I mostly ate bread and soup, or vegetables and pasta. This is really delicious!"

Shiki looked at Asia in bewilderment. That was it, that's all she's ever eaten before? What the hell kind of diet was that? "Well, savor it then. This is your first hamburger so make sure to take the time to enjoy the taste."

"I will!" she said before taking another bite. They ate in a comfortable silence, enjoying the food and one another's company. It was Shiki that broke the silence, asking a question that had been on his mind since seeing Asia in the park. He asked her what she had been doing and she was fast to respond, almost seeming nervous. "W-well, I was on a break so I thought I'd take a small stroll around town." He could tell she was lying. She looked jumpy, anxious, just on edge in general. He decided to not push the issue for her sake. "Then I saw you and..."

"A stroll around town, huh? Alright, let's do that then." Shiki said, stuffing the rest of his burger in his mouth before wiping with a napkin. Asia looked at him in confusion and he explained after swallowing. "Congratulations, Asia. You've earned yourself a personal tour around Kuoh Town accompanied by none other than this man right here. Finish your food quickly and we'll go find something fun to do."

* * *

"That was amazing!"

"Yeah, well, you know. I'm pretty much a genius so something like this is easy for me." Shiki bragged to the amazed Asia as his score overtook the previous 1st Place before inputting his initials. He got off the dancing pad and offered it to Asia, "You want to give it a go? I'm paying."

"Oh no, I couldn't-"

"Hey, come on. If you want to try then go for it. This day's about having fun, isn't it?" he asked rhetorically, nudging Asia gently towards the machine.

"Well, alright. I don't think I'll be very good though..." Asia said nervously as she placed her feet on the raised floor panel as the game's menu music began to blast through the machine's speakers.

Shiki put another coin in the slot before reassuring her, "No worries, I'll be here to give you advice." Asia looked at him with a smile that he couldn't help but return, it was too infectious not to. "Hit the buttons when they're inside the moving arrows on the screen and you'll do fine. It's just about timing." He tapped a song on the touch screen, a low ranking one since Asia was just a beginner, and gave her a pat on the back. "Good luck!"

To Asia's credit she tried, she really did but she was about as stable as a child learning how to walk for the first time. More than once Shiki had to rush to stop her from falling off the machine in a heap. When the song ended Asia looked at her score and pouted, a look that finally broke Shiki as he began laughing. "Shiki-san, it's not funny!"

"Asia, please." he said in between laughs. "That was the best thing I've ever seen." She turned the pout from the machine to him and he finally stopped laughing, trying to get it under control. "Sorry, sorry. Don't worry, you're new. You'll get it eventually." He helped her off the game pad, taking her by the hand and leading her. "Come on, let's go play another game before you break something."

They experienced a bit of everything, from fighting games to arcade shooters with huge plastic guns to more music-based games that had fake guitars as the controllers. Seeing Asia happy after last night's debacle made Shiki smile. After being the insanity of last night she deserved to have a good time. He finished a combo on the boss enemy in the two-player beat-em-up game he and Asia were playing with a smirk. "We make a pretty good team." He turned to look at her but she was gone. "Huh? Asia?" Did he just get ditched? "Asia?" he called out. His eyes quickly found her staring at the contents of a crane game. Something must have caught her eye and made her wander off.

"You want one?" he asked as he walked up to her. "Any of them in particular or just whichever one I can grab?"

"N-no, it's fine." Shiki looked at her with an amused smirk. "Well… yes. That one, please." She pointed shyly at one of the plush toys in the case while blushing in embarrassment. A white snowman with black eyes and a wide smile with two fangs, a blue hat, jester collar and boots as its only clothing. He felt like he recognized it from somewhere, probably some game's mascot character.

He inserted a coin and deftly navigated the crane towards the prize Asia wanted. Pressing the button to lower the claw, he smiled as he got it in the first try while Asia wowed. "Told you. G. E. N. I. U. S. The best of the best." he joked as the claw dropped the toy down the chute. He didn't really know what it was but something about Asia put him at ease. Smiling, joking, those jokes being something _other_ than sarcastic jabs at somebody, actually enjoying someone else's company for a change, it was different. Putting those thoughts out of his mind, he reached past the flap and plucked it out before presenting it to the blonde. "All yours."

Asia gently took it from his hand and held it close to her chest. "Shiki-san, thank you. I'll treasure this, thank you very much!"

"It's no problem. Come on, let's go grab something to drink." He took her by the hand and led her out of the arcade, taking a few steps before he stopped and hissed in pain. His leg felt like it was on fire and all the activity was starting to take its toll on him. He hadn't noticed before, too focused on making sure the nun had a good time to take note that his leg was throbbing but now it was coming back with a vengeance. He hoped Asia hadn't noticed his slip up.

"Shiki-san, are you okay?" No such luck. "Is it… Is it your leg? Your wounds from last night?" Asia asked, worried for the brunette's health. He made a move to shrug it off and say he was fine but before he could Asia dragged him outside to an empty plaza with a large water pond in the middle. She gently urged him to take a seat on a nearby bench and roll his pant leg up, which he did at Asia's insistence. The bandages he had wrapped around what was left of the bullet hole after Rias had healed him were stained red with his blood.

"I'm telling you I'm fine, stop worrying about it. Just gimme a minute and-" Shiki stopped mid-sentence as Asia knelt before him, two rings suddenly appearing on her fingers before she removed the blood-soaked wrappings. Her hands began to emit a faint green glow as she placed them just over his wound. He felt incredibly relaxed as he watched the scar slowly shrink in size until it disappeared completely, taking the pain along with it. "You, you have a Sacred Gear?" Shiki asked in astonishment. This was something he hadn't expected in the slightest but putting the pieces together it made sense. There was no way the Fallen Angels would have wanted Asia for something like fighting on the front lines, she didn't have the heart or nerves for such a thing. A Sacred Gear though, that made her valuable to them. That was why that lunatic Freed said their "higher ups" gave him strict orders to not kill her. Asia had a Sacred Gear, just like him.

"Yes, it's the power to heal. A wonderful blessing given to me by God." Despite expressing her gratitude for having such a power she looked sad. Suddenly a tear trailed down her cheek. One tear became two and suddenly she began crying. Shiki was about to start panicking before she spoke. "I'm sorry." she apologized, leaving him even more confused. "Shiki-san, may I tell you a story?" Not knowing what else to do, he nodded as Asia sat down next to him on the bench.

Asia told him of a girl, abandoned at birth by her parents and left in front of a small European town's Church. Of how the girl grew up raised by a nun along with other orphans. Of how the girl, at age 8, received an incredible power to heal the wounded and how she used it to heal a hurt puppy she had found. The act was witnessed by a member of the Catholic Church and the girl was taken from the only home she had ever known, moved to a large Church and ordered to perform "miracles" by healing the illnesses and wounds of Christians arriving from the entire world. She became known as a "Holy Maiden" because of her ability to perform that miracle. She was happy that her power could be of use to someone, that she could save so many lives. The people of the Church were kind and she enjoyed healing others. She was thankful to God for granting her such a divine power.

But that girl was lonely. So, so lonely. Only ever seen as a Holy Maiden, no one dared approach her as anything else. She never once had a single friend. The people of the Church treated her kindly but they all kept her at an arm's distance, rarely interacting with her outside of her "miracles". She desperately wished she could have a friend. She understood why the Church treated her the way they did, deep down. They treated her kindly but didn't see her as a person, she was simply an existence that could perform miracles who happened to take the appearance of a human being.

One day, that changed. She had found a man collapsed on the ground, injured, and healed him out of nothing but the kindness in her heart. That kindness spurred her to action, even when she saw that the man was a Devil. 'Even if he's a Devil I should save his life, shouldn't I?', the girl thought. That one action changed her life forever. A passing minister saw the action and reported it to the Church. They were shocked by it. "A power that can heal Devils is no blessing from the Lord." they said. "She's no Holy Maiden, she's a Witch!" The Church cast her out, abandoning and excommunicating her. Even so, she never once held regret for saving that Devil's life and never forgot to pray to God, to thank God. Despite that, the girl was abandoned. Not a single person in the Church, even those she saved, spoke in her defense. Left with no other options, the girl was taken in by a group of Stray Exorcists who aligned themselves with Fallen Angels.

"That girl was me." she finished. She laughed, more like a sob than anything, before continuing. "It's because I didn't pray enough that I received this test from the Lord. Because I'm clumsy and stupid. But it's okay, because I truly believe if I overcome this ordeal then-"

"What the hell is the matter with you?" Shiki cut her off incredulously. He couldn't believe anything he was hearing. This story, it was too sad. Too cruel. Asia looked at him, not understanding. "How can you still believe in God?" He ignored the pain he felt speaking the Biblical God's name, pressing onward. "You were abandoned, betrayed, branded a heretic and thrown away by people who owed you everything. People you never demanded anything from. Despite that, despite _all of that_ , how can you still pray to Him? How can you keep giving and giving and giving, never receiving anything in return? Are you going to wait forever, hoping that one day God," the pain was back but he continued, using the pain as fuel now, "will give you the reward you _deserve_ for enduring all this time?"

On some level he knew he was being harsh, possibly pushing into territory that was better left alone but he couldn't understand. He couldn't understand the girl sitting next to him anymore. Everything she had gone through, all of the hurt she endured but she still smiled. She never once cursed the people that spurned her despite having more than enough reason to. She never turned her back on God despite being thrown by the wayside by the Church. Where the hell was the fairness in any of this? Where the fuck was God when someone so devoted to Him suffered? Where was His love and kindness and mercy? The rage he felt at God, the sadness for the blonde, Asia's history, the way this poor girl still held onto her faith despite being crushed by the world again and again, it almost brought tears to his own eyes. This wasn't right. If God truly existed then this was not love and this was not an ordeal, this was outright cruelty.

"Don't you want something for yourself? Haven't you earned it already?" he asked her, voice shaking.

"I-I don't know if I've earned anything, but if I could have anything in the world I'd like to have a friend. Someone to talk to, and buy books with, and pick flowers. That's my dream. I don't have any friends, you see."

This girl was so alone. Isolated until she was ostracized and betrayed, forced to look to monsters like Freed Sellzen for help. Nobody ever reached out to her for anything other than their own selfishness. Nobody ever saved her the way she saved so many others. The way she tried to save him. All of the pain she felt, she bottled it all up and continued to pray to a God that never saved her. This couldn't go on.

"You're wrong."

"Shiki-san?"

"You're wrong, Asia." Shiki said, putting force into his voice and grabbing her hand. "You and I, we're friends. We're friends and we'll always be friends." Asia was shocked at his words. "This isn't a pact with a Devil, this isn't a contract being offered. I don't know anything about picking flowers or buying books," he joked before becoming serious again, "but no matter what, I'll always be on your side. No matter what, we'll be friends." he promised.

Asia put a mouth to her hand as the tears began again. "Shiki-san, are you sure? I don't have any common sense."

"Then that means things will be more interesting. Don't worry, I don't have much common sense either."

"I can't speak Japanese, I don't know anything about this country."

"So? You'll learn the longer you're here. I'll teach you myself if I have to."

"I don't know what it's like to have a friend."

Shiki grasped her hand even tighter. "Who cares? Even if it's just you and me, we'll rely on each other. I'll teach you everything you need to know!" The smile on Asia's face, he wanted to make sure it stayed there no matter what. The girl that suffered for the sake of others and never once complained, she deserved to be happy.

"Isn't this sweet? A nun and a Devil, side by side."

He heard it again, the sound of beating wings. He already knew what it meant and all the joy drained out of his body, being replaced by pure fury. "How disgusting, a Fallen Angel breaking up a discussion with my new friend." he replied. Shiki turned and faced the sound, the owner of the accursed black wings floating just above the pond in the dead center. "You know, the last time I met one of your kind I said I'd tear his filthy wings out. It's a shame he didn't pass on the message." Shiki stepped in front of Asia defensively.

"Eh? Is that any way to speak to the girl that confessed to you, Yukimura-kun?" What? This girl wasn't Yuuma. Even putting aside the different outfits, with the Fallen Angel before him some sort of weird leather-looking straps around her breasts, something resembling a black thong, pauldrons seemingly not connected to anything other than her skimpy top with spikes coming from the right shoulder and thigh-high boots, she looked too old, too mature, to be Yuuma. Maybe a relative of some sort, and that thought alone made his blood boil, but not her. The voice was different too, with a much lower pitch than Yuuma's.

"I don't know what the fuck you were told but-"

"I've seen you walk through here a few times, and I thought you were really cute." No. "So, um, would you please go out with me?" Her voice had changed, from the lower pitch of whoever it was in front of him to the softer, gentler voice of the girl he briefly knew as Amano Yuuma. For a split second her image shimmered, as if a mirage, and in its place stood Yuuma before it changed back. "Not bad, huh? You were surprisingly easy to deceive, it was almost disappointing. Shame you didn't take the date though, you and I could have had some fun together."

It was her. It was her, it was her, it was her, it was her, it was her, _it was her_. She had finally appeared before him, his _murderer._ He summoned his Sacred Gear instinctually, so wrapped up in his all-consuming rage that he didn't even register that his arm was now clad in the red gauntlet. "So in addition to becoming a filthy Reincarnated Devil you summoned your Sacred Gear? That's pretty impressive for such a-"

"What the fuck do you want?" Shiki interrupted, growling. The only reason he hadn't summoned his wings and rushed to attack the Fallen Angel was because it would leave Asia vulnerable. They wanted her for something and he wouldn't let them have her. She'd never go back to that Church.

"Don't speak to me, you disgusting creature. It makes me ill." Yuuma sneered at him. "That girl, Asia, is our possession. Asia, you know it's pointless to run away, don't you?" she asked the blonde, no longer addressing the Devil.

Asia shook behind Shiki. "Raynare-sama..." Raynare. That was her real name. Not Amano Yuuma. Shiki would make sure to remember it when he killed her. "I won't return to a place where I have to kill people! And… you people did things to me..." Shiki's rage intensified. What did they do to her? What the fuck did they do to Asia!? "I'm sorry, Shiki-san. The truth is that I ran away from the Church." Asia admitted to the brunette shaking with anger.

"Well yeah, no duh." he replied, to Asia's surprise. "There's no way someone like you would hang around those pieces of shit if you had a choice." He gave her a smile, "Don't worry about it," he said before turning back to glare at Raynare, smile falling away instantly. "She's not coming with you, Raynare. Flap those little chicken wings on out of here, k? Don't ever come near Asia again."

"Not only are you speaking to me after I told a lowly creature such as yourself not to but you're using my name. Something like that makes me really want to kill you, you know?" Raynare raised an arm, a spear of light quickly appearing in her hand, the same as the day she had killed him. "How about this time I make sure you don't come back?"

"Come and try, you stupid bitch." He heard his gauntlet exclaim its usual cry of **[BOOST!]**. "How about, for a change of pace, I leave you bleeding on the ground? Is that okay? Even if it's not I don't really care. I've been waiting for this for so long that holding myself back is making my fists ache. I just really want to tear your head off." Shiki said, his tone cold and deadly as he spoke of wanting to kill the woman in front of him. She'd die here and Asia would never be hunted by these freaks again, he would make sure of it.

"Unfortunately, you won't get the chance." He heard a deep voice say from behind him.

"Wha-"

Shiki heard Asia scream right before he felt something pierce through his chest and out his back. No, that wasn't right. Raynare hadn't moved, still clutching her own spear, and even she looked surprised by this turn of events. The spear was a different color as well, a blue spear as opposed to the pink one in Raynare's hand. Shiki struggled to turn his head, when he finally did his light brown eyes made eye contact with piercing blue. He recognized this man, this man currently holding a spear of light that was stabbed through his _back_ and out of his _chest_. "Y-you..."

"I told you to pray that we wouldn't meet again. You should have listened." Dohnaseek said coldly before ripping the spear out, allowing Shiki to collapse to the ground. Shiki heard Asia scream once more before rushing to his side.

"What the hell are you doing here, Dohnaseek?" Raynare exclaimed, angry that she had been interrupted.

"Your job, apparently. We were to retrieve the girl and then return to base, not fight with a Devil in broad daylight. Have you forgotten so quickly?" Dohnaseek replied coldly, cowing Raynare as he revealed his wings and flew over to her. She may have been the unofficial "leader" of their posse but she knew better than to start a fight with Dohnaseek at the moment. They were too close to finishing their plans to waste time with infighting. With a scowl she nodded at him, acknowledging his words.

Meanwhile, as soon as Shiki had fallen to the ground Asia had rushed over and begun using her Sacred Gear to reverse the damage. "Shiki-san, are you okay?" she called out frantically. She hadn't seen Dohnaseek sneak up behind them and by the time he was close enough he had shoved her out of the way to stab Shiki in the back.

"I'm fine, I'm fine." the Devil panted as he came so close to death yet again. The pain had been even more agonizing than when he had been shot, presumably because of the location of the wound. "Just... Just heal me up and I'll fight them off." he assured her. He didn't have the strength to stand yet, only able to pull himself into a kneeling position.

Raynare laughed when she heard this. "You, fight us? You can't even handle one of us and you think you'll beat both? You and that worthless Sacred Gear of yours."

"Worthless?"

"It's one of the common ones. Twice Critical, a Sacred Gear that doubles its users power for a temporary time. To think my superiors placed me on surveillance of someone with such a trash Sacred Gear. It's not a threat to us because you're so weak, two times nothing is still nothing after all! A Sacred Gear befitting a loser that's only good for acting tough." Raynare cruelly laughed once more.

'That can't be right.' Shiki thought, not taking his eyes off the two Fallen Angels. 'When I fought Freed I _know_ it doubled twice. I could _feel_ it. Is she lying or is it just a bluff?'

"Asia, you understand the situation, don't you?" Raynare called out to the girl. "If we both fight against your friend, he'll die. There won't even leave pieces of him left behind. _But_ if you come with us I promise we'll let him live. If you refuse then I'll kill him right now."

Shiki grit his teeth, ready for the fight of his life. Just a bit more, just a little more time until he fully got the feeling back in his legs and he'd kill both of the crows. "I understand. I'll go with you." Shiki's head spun to look at Asia in shock. Asia smiled at him. "Shiki-san, thank you for today. I had a lot of fun."

"Asia, don't! You don't have to go back with them!"

"Be quiet." Dohnaseek said, quickly crossing over to him and shoving Shiki back to the ground. "Be thankful we're sparing you at all, boy. If it were my decision you'd die right here and now."

Shiki raised his head off the concrete to look at Asia and saw Raynare pulling her close before covering the both of them with her wings. "Good girl." he heard Raynare say. "After tonight's ritual you'll be free of all your pain and suffering." Ritual? What ritual? What the hell were they going to do to her?

He opened his mouth to call out to Asia once more, to beg her to not go with them but his voice caught in his throat when Asia looked at him. "Thank you, Shiki-san. For being my friend. Goodbye." And then both Fallen Angels took the skies once more, taking Asia along with them, leaving behind nothing but black feathers and the plush toy he had won for Asia.

"Dammit." Shiki lowered his head back to the asphalt in anger, beating his fist against the ground. "Dammit, dammit, dammit, dammit!" Saved, again. Again by someone he should have been protecting, not the other way around. Another failure in a growing list of them. "Asia, you idiot. Who the hell told you to go and do that?"

"Stupid girl."

* * *

 **Author's Note:** **Another chapter done. I'm still awful at fight scenes! It's really hard for me to describe the perfect fight I can visualize in my head so, as always, if anyone has any tips I'd be more than welcome to accept them. Asia is easily one of the sweetest, and more tragic, characters in DxD in my opinion and I enjoyed writing this chapter a lot, which is probably why it's the longest one yet. Asia is the** **kind of person that I feel like they could melt anyone's heart if given enough time. Writing out the day she spent with Shiki was a lot of fun and it let me display the latter's more human, more normal side after several chapters of anger, snark, frustration, sarcasm, and more anger. Don't expect a lot of angst though! I'm not overly fond of the whole "protagonist who cries a lot when they fail" sort of thing.**

 **Oh and for anyone wondering, yes that was a Jack Frost from Shin Megami Tensei plush toy that Asia wanted. Because reasons.**

 **Anyway, enough of my rantings. Read, review, still looking for a beta, etc.**


	5. Rescue Missions and a Battle

"Are you insane?!"

"Didn't we do this yesterday? I feel like we've done this."

"The answer is no!"

"Well it's a good thing I don't _care_ what your answer is because I wasn't _asking._ I was being courteous to you for once and letting you know what happened and where I'm going. If you don't want to help, fine. Do me a favor and don't get in my way then."

"You'll _die_. There are at least two Fallen Angels there, likely more, and who knows how many Stray Exorcists. If they kill you then you won't even move on to the afterlife, you'll be exorcised. Not just your life but your very existence will be wiped away. I can't bring you back again, Shiki!"

"So I won't die, sounds simple enough."

"Your actions have _consequences!_ Stop thinking about what you want to do and think about how what your actions mean for everyone else! You are a Devil of the Gremory family, whether you like it or not. If you attack the Fallen Angels then it could easily be seen as an act of aggression by the Devils. Do you understand why I can't let you go? Stop being so selfish for once!" He turned to leave, not wanting to hear any more what Rias had to say and she grabbed him roughly by the arm.

Shiki threw her hand off harshly and turned around. "What do you want me to do then? Just sit here? Sacrifice Asia because of something that _might_ happen? Just hand her over to them?" he shouted back at her, eyes ablaze with anger. He took a breath and spoke again, in a much quieter tone, "I can't. She was abandoned by every other person in her life. Her parents, the Church, even God, despite the fact that she prayed to Him every damn time, thanking Him for the shit hand he dealt her. You can't just ask me to do that to her too.

If it's a problem because of the fact that I'm representing your family while in your Peerage just kick me out. Say I went rogue if you have to. Declare me as a Stray Devil, it doesn't mat-"

"That's enough!" Rias yelled at him before he could finish his sentence. "You're not _replaceable_ , Shiki! I've told you about the unique trait of a Pawn, haven't I?" He nodded in response, not seeing where she was going with this. "Promotion, the ability to take on the traits of any other Evil Piece except the King, but only within enemy territory, such as the Church, so long as I recognize it as such. You may not be able to use it to become a Queen because of how recently you've been reincarnated though." Shiki didn't understand why she was bringing this up now when it had little to do with the argument. Was she trying to explain his worth to the Peerage and why she couldn't let him risk his life? He was about to ask her why she was telling him all of this again when Akeno walked over to her and began whispering something in her ear. Rias' expression changed and she spoke once more, "Something urgent has come up, Akeno and I will be out for a bit."

That was fine with him. The moment they left he'd go to the Church. Regardless of the consequences this was something he had to do. "One last thing, Shiki." She walked up to him and placed a hand on his shoulder. "Sacred Gears, they respond to emotion, especially desire. The same way you summoned it, that's also the key to unlocking its true strength." Nothing of what she was saying was making sense to him anymore. One minute they're arguing and the next they're talking about his Sacred Gear? "Even with Promotion and your Sacred Gear, if you go alone you will die." She took her hand off his shoulder and walked back to Akeno, a magic circle appearing under the two. "This is the last time I'll say it. The Church is enemy territory. Do not go to it and don't try to rescue her."

A small flash later and they were gone, but Shiki could have sworn before they disappeared he saw Rias smiling. It didn't matter, his mind was already made up. He stalked to the door, left hand on the knob before he heard Kiba's voice. "You're going then?"

"You know it, Prince. I've never been good at taking orders. I'm more of a "you say stop and I keep going" kind of guy. My decision was made long before this little argument, I just came here to see if I could get some backup. Why? You gonna try to stop me?" With barely a thought he summoned his Sacred Gear, ready to fight his way out of the club room if necessary. "If so, you and I are gonna have a problem."

"You fight for what you believe in. I can respect that. You'll still die if you go alone. There's a difference between determination and recklessness."

"Can we skip the lecture? If I'm going to die today like everyone keeps saying then I would prefer it to be in a really cool and flashy sort of way after saving Asia. Not literally talked to death." Shiki let go of the door handle and mentally prepared himself before turning around. "You ready?" he asked, setting himself up to use his Sacred Gear's power to increase his strength before rushing the blonde.

"Whenever you are." In any other circumstance such a cocky answer would have made Shiki smile a bit. Under better circumstances this would have been a rematch he enjoyed. Things would be different this fight. If Kiba thought he could afford to hold back this time then he'd learn a harsh lesson. "We'll have to be quick though, if we want to rescue her." Shiki blinked in confusion.

"I'm sorry, I think you and I are talking about different things. Let's start with what you're talking about and go from there."

"Well I can't just let you go alone, can I?" Shiki couldn't believe his ears. Was this really happening? "Lead the way, Yukimura-kun. We'll be right behind you." Koneko too?

"I… What? You're helping me?" He received a nod from them both. "Why? You don't have anything to gain from going against what Red's ordered. I don't understand. Why are you helping me?"

"Because we're comrades. Even if you don't feel the same way or you're still resentful over becoming a Devil or even if you hate us that doesn't change the fact that we're allies. I don't know much about Asia-san but if you're willing to go this far then I feel compelled to back you up. Besides, I don't think Buchou expects you to listen to her on this matter." Kiba laughed a little. "If she wanted to actually stop you she wouldn't have left. I can't see that as anything other than an approval. She was oddly specific in naming the Church as enemy territory, don't you think?"

Shiki was shocked. Even after pushing these people away and treating them like shit they were seriously going to help him? And Rias was actually approving of his actions by leaving him unattended? She had, in a roundabout way, given him permission to use Promotion? This was almost too much for him. Putting what Kiba said aside, he looked to Koneko, who still had that same neutral expression, for her reasoning as to why she was helping him.

"You two going alone would worry me." A short and simple answer for a short and stoic girl.

"Prince, Shorty… You two really are idiots, huh? Agreeing to charge into a Church like this, you must be." Shiki laughed, smiling. He'd never fought with other people actually helping him before, he always flew solo for these types of things. "Alright then, I suppose I can take you both along. Dying alone twice in the same month would be pretty awful." He couldn't believe this. Of all the people to help him, of course it'd be the people he never got along with.

'Just my luck, I guess.' the Devil thought with a smirk as he led them to the Church.

* * *

"Just being near this place gives me the creeps."

"There must be a lot of priests inside. I can feel at least one Fallen Angel as well."

"That so? Dibs on the crow then." Kiba looked at Shiki quizzically. "If it's the one I think it is then let's just say it's a long story, I've got unresolved issues and leave it at that for now." Kiba gave a grim smile.

"I know a bit about that." Now it was Shiki's turn to look at Kiba in confusion. "I detest Fallen Angels and priests. Unresolved issues of my own." Shiki gave Kiba a nod of understanding. Looks like they both had their own set of problems, though Shiki was a bit curious as to what Kiba's were. It must have been something dark for Kiba to have such a hard look in his eyes.

"So, how are we doing this? Eh, Shorty, what are you doing?" Shiki asked as Koneko walked out of the foliage they were hiding in right up to the huge front entrance door of the Church. He and Kiba followed behind.

"They already know we're here." She simply said before kicking open the doors. Shiki chuckled. Kicking down doors and beating down anyone inside, this was more his kind of entrance now. The three Devils walked in together on high alert, eyes looking for any sign of enemies, be they Fallen Angels or priests. It was, for all intents and purposes, a normal-looking Church. An altar, pews, candle lights and lamps. The only thing out of the ordinary was the statue of the Cross in the back of the room. It look as though the head had been blown off the sculpture of Christ nailed to it. Creepy.

 **CLAP CLAP CLAP**

"It's a reunion! A meeting! Ah, this makes me so emotional!" a familiar voice called out as its owner walked out of the shadows from behind a broken pillar. Shiki grit his teeth. He knew this voice, this annoying, batshit insane voice. So this was the first opponent, huh? Freed Sellzen had arrived, not even a scratch from the previous night on him.

'They must have had Asia use her Sacred Gear to fix his face.' Shiki thought. A shame, he much preferred the psychopathic priest when his face was nice and broken, blood spewing out of it. It made it difficult for him to talk, something he could tell the Exorcist loved to do. "Feeling's mutual, Judas Priest. Though, personally, all of those emotions are centered around knocking your teeth out. You?"

"Ohhhh," Freed shivered under Shiki's hateful gaze, "Devil-kun, I remember how you came so close to killing me. It was the best, the greatest feeling! I've spent so long killing weak little Devils that I forgot how it felt to be on the other side! Buuuut, it's a good thing Asia-chan patched me up, huh?" Freed asked, smiling widely as he saw Shiki glare at him in anger.

"Don't fucking say her name, you piece of shit. Don't even talk about her."

"Why the long face? Are you mad? Does it upset you, thinking about how Asia-chan had to fix my poor broken nose?" Shiki was going to kill him. "Being under Asia-chan's tender love and care, it felt so gooood." Bash his skull into the ground until his brains leaked out. "Are you jealous? Do you and Sister Asia-chan have a thing going on? I wouldn't get too attached if I were you. She's not too long for this world!" Break his ribs and then tear out the pieces with his bare hands.

"What does that mean? Where's Asia?!"

"Oh, whoopsie. I've said too much already! I'm moving off my prepared script, how terrible!" Freed laughed. It was only through sheer force of will that Shiki didn't rush over and throttle him. "Welllll to tell you the truth, I'm kind of pissed off. I'm super strong, ya know? Whenever I meet a Devil they're the one supposed to be messed up, not me." He pulled out a familiar gun and sword handle. "I cut the corpse up into tiny pieces and then I'm gone with a kiss goodbye! But you guys really ruined my style last time. That's why I really want to kill you all." He brought his gun up to his face and dragged his tongue against the barrel before speaking again. "As for Sister Asia-chan, that trash nun who fell for a Devil? She's at the underground ritual site, just past that altar. Not that it matters though, considering you're all dying up here." he cackled.

Koneko had heard enough of his voice, picking up a pew and chucking it at him. "Get crushed." she said emotionlessly, effortlessly picking up several more pews to throw at him after Freed cleaved the first in half before he opened fire with his gun, causing all three Devils to scatter.

Kiba broke off and engaged the Stray Exorcist, attacking with his sword while effortlessly dodging any light bullet Freed fired at him. Freed, to his credit, was able to keep up with Kiba's Knight-enhanced speed, parrying or blocking the slashes of his sword. "Not bad, not bad, not bad! You're pretty fast, you must be a Knight! This is great, I haven't had an awesome fight like this in a while!" Freed screamed as he and Kiba locked swords trying to cleave the other in two. "I really wanna kill you now!"

"You're not too bad yourself. I guess I'll have to get a bit serious." Kiba said as his sword slowly turned pitch-black. No, it was less that it became black and more like all the colors simply disappeared, even the space around the blade became a bit darker, as if all light around it was being sucked in. He charged Freed and they locked blades once more, but this time the darkness of Kiba's blade reached out, devouring Freed's blade of light.

"What the hell is this!?" the priest screams, not understanding why his sword was flickering and disappearing.

"Holy Eraser. A sword of darkness that consumes any and all Light. A perfect weapon against someone like you, no?"

"A Sacred Gear?! Dammit!" Freed broke off the exchange just as the last bits of light from his sword flickered out and died, fully eaten up by Kiba's sword. He raised his gun to fire at the Knight. "Damn pest!" He didn't get the chance as Shiki slid in without a sound, moving into a close range where Freed wouldn't be able to shoot him at such an angle. "You-"

"I owe you another beating, don't I, Priest-kun?" the brunette yelled before slamming his fist right into the Exorcist's throat with an uppercut before he could try to slice him in two. "Don't worry, I'll make it fast this time!" A punch the ribs to double him over before following up with a three-quarter uppercut to the chin. "PROMOTION: ROOK!" Shiki yelled, feeling a surge of strength as he changed attributes. He looked Freed dead in his eyes.

"Pawn?"

And delivered a right straight that shattered Freed's nose once more, sending him flying back and crash landing in front of the altar in a heap. "That was for threatening Asia, shithead priest." Shiki looked to Kiba. "Sorry for cutting in. I've been dying to do that since he opened his mouth."

Kiba chuckled, "It's fine. I'll get the next one."

"Deal."

Freed screamed from his position on the ground, the sound coming out half gurgled. "You broke my fucking nose again! You fucking piece of shit trash Devillllll!" He quickly stood, blood pouring from his nose. "I'll kill y- eh?" He stopped himself mid-threat and realized he was surrounded on all sides, the Devils having encircled him while he was busy screaming on the floor like a child. "Oh. Aaaaaaaand done, I'm so done with this. I'm not paid well enough to take another beating from Devil-kun and his friends so I'm gone~!" Freed grabbed something from within his coat before any of the three could stop him and smashed it on the ground. A blinding flash of light was released and when it cleared the priest was gone, leaving only a puddle of blood where he previously stood.

"Oi, Devil-kun!" Freed's voice called out from somewhere in the church. "Shiki-kun, that's your name, isn't it? To tell you the truth, I've fallen in love with you!" What. "I'll definitely be the one to kill you so please don't die before then, okay? Okay? Promise? I'll never forgive the shitty Devil that hurt me like this so don't die until I kill you! Bye bye~!" His voice faded away with his departure.

"It looks like you have an admirer, Yukimura-kun."

"Prince, if you don't shut the fuck up I'm going to force-feed you every sword you own. Starting with the one you're holding."

"Duly noted."

"Let's go."

Koneko kicked over the altar in one movement, revealing a flight of stairs that descended downward. They shared a look and quickly ran down the stairs. There was no more time to waste on distractions.

* * *

"This is it, right?" Shiki asked, ready to burst through the door.

"Yes. I can smell them. Lot of priests and a Fallen Angel inside. Ready?" Koneko asked.

Shiki looked at his gauntlet. He needed power, enough to confront whatever was behind that door. 'Come on, you piece of scrap metal. Make with the power, now.'

 **[BOOST!]**

Shiki let out a shuddering breath. Every time the gauntlet gave him power it made him feel incredible. Made him feel ready to open the door and tear through every last person in there with his bare hands. He idly wondered if the Sacred Gear was making him more bloodthirsty. Even in his the heat of the moment, back when he was human, he wasn't like this. He shook off such thoughts. If it was because of his Sacred Gear, if it was changing him, then great. He'd need every last bit of those types of feelings tonight. He looked at Koneko and nodded, to which she kicked down the door in response before they rushed in.

"Welcome, Devils. A bit earlier than expected." Raynare spoke from the other end of the room, standing next to a cross. A cross with Asia hanging from it, restrained by chains. If it wasn't for Kiba grabbing Shiki by the shoulder and pulling him back he'd have charged in, never noticing that the room was full of priests, each one armed with a sword of light and a gun capable of firing light bullets. "A touching reunion but we're almost done."

"Change of plans. Prince, you can have every last priest in this room!" Shiki summoned his wings and put as much strength into his legs as he could, kicking off the ground and rocketing towards Raynare and Asia. He wouldn't let them finish this. Whatever freak ritual they were planning to do to Asia, he'd destroy it. Destroy it, destroy Raynare, destroy this Church, destroy every last thing in his way until there was nothing but rubble and bodies.

The priests attempted to attack Shiki but he flew higher than they could swipe at him with their swords, their light guns ineffective as he was simply moving too quickly for them to take aim and it didn't help that Kiba was quickly on them, his Holy Eraser eating away at their light-based weapons. "I'll have to thank Yukimura-kun for this later. I truly hate priests, to be surrounded by so many just makes me want to cut you all down. My sword will gladly devour every last bit of light in this room."

Koneko was no slouch either, knocking priests around as if they were ragdolls, sending them flying every which way. Any attack they made on her didn't so much as scratch her Rook-level defenses. "Get away." Another body sent sailing, landing against the wall with a sickening crunch before falling to the ground.

Shiki didn't have time to watch his fellow Devils fight, he was already flying at Raynare as quickly as possible. He saw Raynare summon a spear of light and throw it at him with incredible speed, screaming something he didn't bother to listen to. More, he needed more speed. Speed fast enough to dodge and counter attack!

 **[BOOST!]**

'There it is!' He became even faster, appearing before Raynare faster than she had expected, dodging her spear without a care. Without a single word he decked her, right through the back wall of the ritual site. He didn't bother to check her condition, only looking Asia over. She didn't have any wounds but whatever this ritual was it was hurting her, that much he could tell. With no hesitation he grabbed the chains and pulled them off, destroying the cross in the process.

"S-Shiki-san? You came?" Asia said, her voice barely above a whisper. She looked up at the brunette with tears in her eyes.

"Of course I did, you idiot. I told you not to go with them for a reason, you know. Rule 1 about having friends is listening to them when they give you advice!" Shiki chided her, just glad she was okay. He gave a quick glance at the hole in the wall he'd punched Raynare through. Still hadn't come back in, screaming and cursing for ruining whatever she was doing. Good. He hoped she had a broken neck after that punch. Not the death she deserved, it was much too fast for that, but he'd take it.

Shiki destroyed the last of the chains before grabbing Asia in a bridal carry. "Hold on tight." he said, placing her arms around his neck. He flew back to the entrance quickly and called out to Kiba and Koneko. "Hey, we're leaving!"

"We'll hold them off, just go! We'll handle this!" Kiba shouted back at him, blocking another swipe from a priest.

"Hurry up and leave." Koneko kicked another priest in his jaw, knocking him into a group of priests and sending them crashing to the ground.

They were outnumbered, by how much he didn't even know. Could he really just leave them? He should. They already told him it was fine, but even still he hesitated. These people weren't his friends. They weren't his allies. His friend was in his arms and he didn't have allies to begin with. He didn't know them and they didn't know him. But still, _still_ , he couldn't just leave them behind. He had come here to save Asia because he couldn't accept sacrificing her, but now he was being asked to abandon the very people that helped him make it this far? That wasn't fair, nothing about this was fair in the slightest.

"Damn it. Fine!" He yelled to them. "You better drag your sorry asses back upstairs once you're done beating on these clowns. If you don't I swear I'll make sure you regret it, you understand?!" He gave one last glance over his shoulder to them and saw them smiling. "Damn idiots, smiling like that. Don't look so happy at a time like this." he said, not noticing the small smile on his own face. He ran out the door and up the stairs as if dogs were on his heels, Asia resting quietly in his embrace and the sounds of battle echoing throughout the ritual site behind him.

* * *

"Oi, wake up. Asia, this is no time to be sleeping." he said, patting the girl on the face to try and rouse her. When he had reached the upstairs part of the church he nearly panicked when he saw Asia's eyes closed, thinking she had died in his arms. Thankfully he still had the common sense about him to check her pulse, one he quickly found and one that left him breathing a sigh of relief. If she had died he didn't know what he would do. He didn't want to think about it either, Asia dying wasn't something he could handle.

"Huh? Shiki-san?" Asia mumbled as she awoke. "Shiki-san, I had such a weird dream." she said tiredly.

"Yeah? Bet it's not weirder than the night we're having." the Devil joked. Her eyes widened as she took in her surroundings.

"Raynare-sama..."

"Is taking a little nap right now. Hopefully forever, but not likely." No sooner did he finish that sentence could hear it again, that damn fucking sound. The sound he hated the most in the entire world, the sound of Fallen Angel wings being used to carry their owner through the air. He could hear it echoing loudly through the downstairs passageway. She was coming back. "Asia, do me a favor. Go outside and, no matter what you hear in here, don't open the door. Unless there's someone coming after you, stay outside. Can you do that for me?" he asked her kindly, trying to not worry her. She looked at him, not understanding why he was asking this of her, but nodded all the same, standing on her own two feet. "Good girl. I'll help you out, just gimme a second. Promotion: Queen!" He felt a surge of power inside him, almost as incredible as the one from his Sacred Gear. "Pfft, and Red said I couldn't promote to Queen. Eat your fuckin' heart out. Alright, time to go now."

"I don't fucking think so!" he heard someone scream from behind the two of them. He turned and smirked at the sight. Raynare was a mess, covered in dust and debris from the wall he had punched her through, cheek swollen, blood trickling from her mouth. Her face was twisted up in a furious snarl. "You're dead, you're all fucking dead."

"Never mind, not gonna be able to walk you to the door after all. My mother would be ashamed at the gentleman I'm not." Shiki said mock-ruefully, making light of the situation. "Asia, don't forget what I said. No matter what you hear, don't open the door." Asia nodded again before slowly walking over to the door, Shiki blocking her from Raynare's view all the while. Raynare didn't make a move, simply glaring at the brunette until Asia opened the door and walked out, giving Shiki one last worried look before it closed. "I'm surprised. Didn't feel like making a move or did my punch scramble your brain to the point that you've become an idiot?"

"It doesn't matter. Sending her out there won't protect her. I'll step over your corpse, drag Asia back down there by her hair if I have to and finish the ritual one way or another."

"Mm, not a bad plan. Lacking in quite a few areas but overall solid. You've got something seriously twisted though." His smile became bloodthirsty as his eyes took on a glacier-like coldness. "This isn't one of those "run away while I sacrifice myself" sort of deals. 'cause, you see, I'm not dying here." He began walking forward. "I made her leave because I'd prefer her not to be traumatized." Step. "I sent her out there because I didn't want her to see what I'm going to do." Step. "I'd feel really badly if Asia realized the type of person she decided to be friends with." Step. "I'm going to _hurt_ you, Amano Yuuma." Step. "I'm going to _break_ you, Raynare." Step. He stood within a few feet of her now. His body was trembling.

"Oh? Tough talk from a boy who's shaking. Are you scared? Your friends won't be coming to save you, I can tell you that much. I'm not like that fool Freed either. I am a Fallen Angel, the strongest race!" Raynare boasted.

His smile widened. "Yeah, I'm shaking. I'm shaking so badly right now that it's a wonder how I'm even standing. Do you know why though? I'm feeling it again." Raynare's cocky expression changed to one of confusion. "The day you murdered me, I was starting to get like this too. I haven't been like this since that day though, it almost made me worry. But it's back. That burning feeling is finally back. I almost thought I lost it, but all it took seeing you like this, in this place, under these circumstances, to make it come back. No, it didn't come back. It's _worse._ It's so much worse than before. I can't tell if it's because it's you or because I'm a Devil now."

"Have you lost what little brains you have left? What the hell are you going on about?" the Fallen Angel demanded, disturbed by the way the Devil was talking. None of this was sitting right with her.

He ignored her. "You know, I always held a little bit of myself back when I fought in the streets. I guess that's the human thing to do? To not fight other human beings all out, with no reservations or inhibition?. If you fought someone like that you could really hurt them! Except, you're not human, right? You look like one, if you ignore the bird wings. You talk like one, despite being a no heart-having murderous bitch. But you're definitely not human." He gave a humorless laugh. "That's okay though. I'm not human anymore either anymore! Because of you. Because you killed me. You're a Fallen Angel and I'm a Devil. That means..."

 **[BOOST!]**

"…that nobody's gonna get mad when I kill you!" A mad glint appeared in his eye and he finally pounced, crossing the distance quickly. Raynare panicked, the range he was in would make trying to use a spear more of a hindrance than anything but she had never truly fought hand-to-hand. She could try to manipulate her light into a different weapon more suitable but for that she needed time. She was out of practice with anything other than spears and time was the last thing the Devil in front of her of her would give. Without any options left she threw a sloppy punch forward aimed at his head, one the boy easily dodged before countering with a right jab straight to the face.

Raynare, despite being inexperienced in close combat, was still incredibly agile, moving her head out of the way and letting the punch sail past her. This was it, while his arm was still outstretched she could summon a spear and skewer him before he could regain his bearings, ending this fight before it even began! But why was he smirking despite his punch missing the mark? She got her answer quickly as the boy bent his arm and pulled it back, slamming his fist into the back of her head in a chopping motion, right at the base of her skull. A perfectly executed rabbit punch. Raynare's vision exploded and her eyes bulged wildly before she lost all sense of balance, her legs giving out as she began to collapse.

Shiki didn't give her the chance to fall, throwing an uppercut with enough force to almost lift her off the ground. He felt warm, wet blood against his knuckles as something in the Fallen Angel's face gave way and broke, a ghastly smile breaking out on his face at the sensation. Throwing a rabbit punch was a pretty low move, one that, if he had continued on his path as a human and entered professional fighting, would have gotten him disqualified from a fight, especially with how much force he put in. But this wasn't a professional fight. There were no rules in this. An anything goes fight to the death with the person he'd been wanting to chase after for so long, the person who was the cause of so much pain in not only his life but Asia's as well.

He grabbed the Fallen Angel and shoved her back upright to keep her standing. It was a shame, he really wanted to make this last but Kiba and Koneko were still downstairs, probably still fighting. It was only fair that he finish up quick and then bail them out after agreeing to tag along on this little rescue mission of his. Shiki's fist impacted Raynare's cheek in a hook that snapped her head to the side where another punch was waiting for her. She stumbled, almost falling against him before a one-two pushed her back. Her face was becoming more and more of a broken mess, looking more akin to a painted crimson mask.

 **[BOOST!]**

Shiki inhaled harshly and stopped his assault for a moment. That hurt. That hurt? Why did that hurt? For a second it felt like he was being crushed. But that was absurd, wasn't it? He shot a brief glance to the gauntlet. Was it one of those "use it too much and you'll self-destruct" types of weapons? How many times had he heard "Boost!" from it? Five? Six? And when did it decide to "Boost!"? A set amount of time? A response to a want for more power? Rias _did_ tell him it responded to "desire", was this what she meant? Why didn't these stupid things come with a fucking instruction manual?!

That brief respite of Shiki trying to understand his Sacred Gear was all the time and distraction Raynare needed to come back to reality after the beating he had doled out. Without a second thought she summoned a spear of and stabbed him in the stomach, making him scream in agony as the light seared him. "Idiot!" She pushed the spear in deeper and deeper until it exploded out his back, blood pouring out of the exit wound. "Letting your guard down in a fight, you must be stupid!" Raynare tried to yell at him, finding it difficult to speak through all the blood, broken teeth and concussion she was sure she had but she'd gladly suffer through that pain to mock the Devil that had hurt her so badly before the light burnt him away entirely.

Shiki grit his teeth, glaring down at the spear. His insides were burning. The pain was lighting his brain on fire. Every second the spear was in him felt like an eternity. 'Endure, endure, endure! The enemy is in front of you, just endure this!' He desperately tried to get his breathing under control, something not easily done as every breath made the pain that much worse. "You… stupid _cunt_." He grabbed her outstretched arm, the one holding the spear still embedded in his guts, and held on tightly, nails digging into her soft flesh. He looked at her and smirked, blood seeping out of his mouth through clenched teeth. "All part of my plan."

"What?"

The punch he delivered to Raynare's jaw, even through the gauntlet he could _feel_ her jaw shatter like glass. Enough force that in any other situation she would have been sent her flying across the room easily. Not this one though, not with the grip he had on her. He yanked her back by the arm he still held onto before she could soar through the air, pushing down urge to scream as he felt the spear mess up his insides even worse from the sudden movements.

It would have been so easy to just let her go, let the spear disappear as they typically did but he couldn't. Despite his boast that this was what he intended it was anything but. He had slipped up, made the rookie mistake of taking his focus off the enemy, and paid for it by way of skewering. If he let her go he'd lose, he already knew it. A hole in his stomach, losing blood rapidly and he was pretty sure the only reason he hadn't bled out was because the spear was still embedded in him, innards burning away from said spear, strength fading because of the light, his Sacred Gear now apparently hurting him for whatever reason, he wouldn't be able to catch her. He had fucked it up, turned a sure win into a race against the clock but that didn't mean it was his loss. Not just yet.

'More! Gimme more! I've got more than enough to _beat_ her, now gimme what I want to _kill_ her!'

 **[BOOST!]**

He felt something crack inside of him, then several somethings follow suit. His bones were breaking. That was fine. It didn't matter anymore. Broken bones meant nothing so long as it gave him the power to win this fight. He slammed his fist into Raynare's stomach, feeling her ribs crumble under the sheer strength he wielded. Again he yanked her back, a punch to the face this time, cheekbone breaking next from his hook. Just a bit more. Just a bit more and this would be over. 'If you're gonna destroy me yourself then just gimme all of it! Every last scrap of power you've got!' he screamed internally at the gauntlet. If Sacred Gears answered to desire then he'd make his known and take what he wanted most of all right now.

 **[EXPLOSION!]**

In that moment, there was no pain. His stomach wasn't on fire, it didn't feel like his nerves were melting, and his bones weren't broken. The light that shone from the green jewel in his Sacred Gear was so incredible that it almost blinded him. The feeling he experienced crashed down hard upon him, the most incredible sensation of pure power. This was beyond anything he had felt before. Far beyond any Boost. Explosion. What an appropriate name. He clenched his fist as hard as he could, feeling the joints in his hand pop and crack. Raynare looked at him in abject terror, unable to comprehend just how the Low-Class Devil in front of her was so powerful. This was the ending.

"Die already, you bitch Angel!"

The last punch cracked Raynare's skull as he let go of her arm and she was sent barreling through the desecrated sculpture of Christ, through the back wall of the Church and crash landing outside the Church of in a beaten, battered, broken heap. With its wielder long since gone the spear of light disappeared, leaving a gaping wound in Shiki's stomach and back. If he had the strength left, that huge swell of power he felt from Explosion disappearing with the final punch, he would have laughed. His gaze dropped to stare at his mortal wound, 'Win the fight, die anyway, what a shit way to go.' He heard footsteps coming from the staircase. He didn't even have the energy left to look at whoever was arriving. "And it just never fucking ends." he muttered, legs no longer able to keep him up as he collapsed.

"No, it's definitely over. Congratulations on your victory." Shiki could barely recognize it as Kiba's voice as he felt someone support his body before he hit the ground. Kiba had rushed over to him and held him up.

"You're so late that I wanna sock you. Where the hell was the backup?" Shiki grumbled, half joking.

"I thought you said you wanted the Fallen Angel to yourself?" Kiba jabbed back. "Besides, Buchou asked that I not interfere. She felt this was a fight you needed more than anything." Buchou? Rias was here? He heard the church doors open in the distance.

"Shiki-san!" Asia, definitely Asia.

"Prince, turn me to the door."

"What?"

"I don't have the fucking energy to do it myself, you stupid prince. Why do you think I'm leaning on you to begin with?" Shiki paused. "Think carefully before you decide to answer that one or I really will make good on the threat from earlier." Kiba just chuckled before doing as he was bid, turning the boy using his shoulder as support towards the entrance.

Asia ran up to the brunette and immediately began healing his wounds. "I'm sorry, Shiki-san! I know you said to wait outside but I couldn't anymore and then Rias-san said the fighting was over and it that was okay to come in so-"

Rias? He looked over Asia's shoulder, the poor girl's mouth still running a mile a minute as she continued to apologize, and saw the red-haired Gremory walking in with Akeno close behind, just as confident as ever. "I knew you'd win." she said, smiling at him. "I asked Yuuto to not interrupt your fight when I teleported to the basement to help them clear out the remaining priests. A gift, from a few days ago when you were upset that I wouldn't let you hunt her down at that moment."

Shiki gave her a deadpan look. "A gift? You got me a one-on-one fight for my life with the person that killed me as a _gift?_ " he asked. Then he stopped and thought. "Yeah, I guess that _does_ sound like something I'd like. Fair enough." He looked down, finally starting to feel his legs again. Asia had just about closed up the wound and was now taking care of any residual damage to his nerves as well as the fractures to his bones. He wasn't even sure which ones he broke, his entire body felt like he'd been in a wreck.

"I can stand now, Prince." Kiba let him go and Shiki wobbled a bit on his own feet but stayed up. He looked around the room, noting that everyone was there now. No, that wasn't right. There was still someone missing. "Oi, where's Shorty?" he asked, somewhat worried that something had happened to Koneko down there. Not that he'd ever admit to that, of course.

"Ara ara, is someone worried? Is Yukimura-kun finally warming up to us?" Shiki was about a hair away from loudly denying such a claim before she continued. "Buchou asked Koneko-chan to bring something. She should be here any minute."

Bringing something? What do you bring to a fight that's already over? Well, maybe a torch and some gasoline to burn this damn place down for good but didn't they have magic for things like that? "Buchou, I brought it." Speak of the devil. Koneko walked through the front door dragging something behind her. No, someone. A groaning someone with black wings. Asia took one look at who Koneko had dragged in and hid behind Shiki.

"Are you fucking kidding me? She's _still_ alive _?_ " Shiki yelled when Koneko threw the Fallen Angel at Rias' feet. "Why can't you just get the fucking message and drop dead?" Of all the people in the world who least deserved to live, especially after the beating like the one he'd given her, of course Raynare would just barely manage to escape with her life. _Of course_. "You just can't stop causing me problems, can you? Let's fix that then." He took a step forward, ready to once and for all put Raynare down for good when he felt a tug on his arm.

Asia was pulling on his arm, looking up at him. "Shiki-san, don't." He was in disbelief. "Raynare-sama, she..."

"Asia, this bitch had you chained to a cross doing I don't even _know_ what to you, had her gang of priests attack us, introduced us all to the unfortunately also still alive Freed Sellzen, kidnapped you, tried to kill me a few minutes ago and also _actually did kill me_ not even that long ago!" He took a breath and look at the blonde girl. "I know that you want to be merciful right now, that you want to believe she can change but she can't. She can't and so long as she's alive she'll try to do to someone else what she did to you. She's gotta go." Asia looked at him pleadingly still, not saying anything. "Dammit, stop that. Stop giving me that look. It's her or us and I already made my choice!" Shiki prepared himself to walk over to the Fallen Angel on the ground and snuff her life out once and for all.

"I know!" Asia said loudly, surprising the brunette. In the time he had known her Asia had never raised her voice. "But please, not you. I-I don't want you to become a killer, Shiki-san."

"Asia, I'm going to have to kill someone one day regardless. I'm a _Devil_ , if you've forgotten. Someday there's gonna be a fight where the only options left are kill or be killed. I've made my peace with that. If you can't bear to see it then look away and I'll make it quick. Now if you'll excuse me."

"Easy, Shiki. Not just yet." Rias said, making him give her an incredulous look. Was she going to stop him too? Seriously? And to top off this clusterfuck of a situation, it looked like Raynare was waking up. Rias held up a hand to Shiki, silently asking him once more to hold off, before addressing Raynare. "Fallen Angel Raynare. My name is Rias Gremory, heiress apparent of the Gremory family. It's nice to finally meet you, though this won't be very long."

Raynare looked up at Rias and sneered before speaking, a slur to her words likely from the damage she had taken to her brain in her fight. Her words came out half delirious. "It doesn't matter who you are. There are other Fallen Angels, they're-"

"All blown away. I personally eliminated all three of them." Shiki raised an eyebrow at Rias for that as she dropped three feathers from her hand in front of Raynare's face. That probably meant she killed that old man, Dohnaseek, too. Shame, he wanted to pay that decrepit piece of bird shit back for the spear through the back but it looked like now he wouldn't get the chance. He hoped she made it painful. It was something about her wording made him give pause though.

"Blown away? That's a weird way of putting it."

"Buchou's strength partly comes from her Power of Destruction, a magic that runs in her family. Being hit by it leaves not even a single trace. That's how she received the title Crimson-Haired Ruin Princess, as well as Princess of Destruction." Akeno informed Shiki, who looked back to Rias.

"Crimson-Haired Ruin Princess? Princess of Destruction?" He gave a small laugh. "Okay, you win. Nice names."

Rias chuckled at the compliment before continuing. "When Shiki told me that a Fallen Angel had approached him I was suspicious but didn't act, under the belief that whatever you were doing you were doing as part of the Fallen Angel faction as a whole. Then I heard that you were your own little group, moving secretly so I decided to have a chat with the other three. They blurted out their plans so boldly. By helping you they would achieve higher status for themselves. Your goal here was to steal the Sacred Gear of Asia Argento."

"Steal a Sacred Gear? You can do that?" Shiki asked.

"Oh yes, it's possible. However, the extraction of a Sacred Gear is fatal one-hundred percent of the time. The original host will die in the process after the ritual is finished."

Shiki froze. A ritual? They were doing that ritual to Asia? His temper began to rise again. These people were going to tear out Asia's Sacred Gear and murder her! He'd kill them! No, he couldn't kill them, they were dead. The priests and three Fallen Angels, all dead. Freed Sellzen, disappeared. But there was still one left for him to kill. He glared at Raynare, murderous intent blatant in his eyes. He'd let Rias finish whatever she wanted to say, then he'd _butcher_ Raynare.

"As for why you lost, in case you're wondering, I can give you the answer to that as well. Shiki, can you come over here?" Rias beckoned him closer. He gently pried Asia's fingers from around his arm and, after a reassurance that he _wouldn't_ kill Raynare, not just yet anyway, she finally let go. He walked over to the two, eyes still burning a hole in the black-haired girl on the ground.

"Whatever this is, can we make it fast? Being this close to her is putting me in a violent mood again." Shiki said sourly. Rias took his gauntlet-covered hand into her own hand and raised it to her eyes. He looked at her and raised an eyebrow. "Uh, Red? I don't think you and I are at that stage in the relationship to be holding hands like this. You wanna let go?"

"In a minute. Just look at your Sacred Gear." He didn't get what exactly she was going for here but did as he was asked, if for no other reason than to get her to let go of his hand. There was some sort of insignia on his gauntlet. A dragon? That's what it looked to be at least. He looked back to Rias for an explanation. "Just as I thought. Ever since the night you told me you felt your strength increase and that the gauntlet called out to you twice I had a feeling it was more than the average Sacred Gear. This just confirms my suspicions." Rias looked at Shiki with bright eyes. "This is a Sacred Gear this is one of the rarest of the rare. Capable of doubling its user's power every ten seconds, allowing whoever wields it to surpass a Maou or a leader-class Fallen Angel in power, temporarily. With a bit of work and by mastering it, there is no one in the world it can't beat. That is the power of one of the thirteen Longinus, the Red Dragon Emperor's Gauntlet. The Boosted Gear."

He choked. He had a weapon like that? His Sacred Gear was that strong? That was what he was feeling, every time he heard "Boost!"? His power doubling again and again? No wonder if felt so damn incredible. His Sacred Gear, no, his _Boosted Gear_ was incredible. Right off the bat he knew that there were weaknesses, the most glaring of which being the fact that nobody with a brain in their skull would just sit there and let him keep doubling his strength but he didn't care. Right now, in that moment, he wanted to take on the whole world just to see how far he could get.

"Geez, my Pawn has such an ecstatic, greedy expression right now, grinning ear to ear like that. You look like a little kid receiving a gift."

"Huh? Do I?" He hadn't even noticed himself smiling but how could he not after such a revelation. He was told he had the power to match just about anyone in the world. Who wouldn't be happy to hear such a thing?

"You do, but it's fine. Such a look is befitting of a Devil."

A look befitting of a Devil? Yes, he supposed he truly was a Devil now. It wasn't too long ago that such a thing would have bothered him, he would have taken such a comment as a reminder of his status as a servant. But now, it felt so different. It felt _right_. Maybe a Devil was who he was meant to be all along? A Devil with the power to challenge the strongest in the world at his literal fingertips. That seemed like such a brighter future than whatever was waiting for him back when he was human.

"Of course, there's still the matter of dealing with this one." The smile fell from his face as Rias let go of his hand and reminded him of the Fallen Angel currently lying at their feet, currently staring in horror at Shiki. "I believe you wanted to take care of this, Shiki?"

Shiki started breathing heavily. This was it. He had waited so long. He remembered the oath he swore on the overpass as he laid dying so long ago. To hunt down Amano Yuuma and kill her. To stand there and watch the light leave her eyes while she took her final breaths. It'd be so easy. As easy as wrapping his hands around her neck and choking her to death. So why hadn't he just done it already? Was he hesitating now that it came time for him to actually end another person's life? No, that wasn't it. He knew why he hadn't killed her yet.

"You really fucked my life, didn't you?" he asked rhetorically, looking down at Raynare with hateful eyes. "Right now, at this point, I don't know whether to curse you or thank you. It's because of you that I've nearly died several times over. It's because of you that I _did_ die on that bridge. It's because of you that I was made a servant to someone else." Rias winced a bit. "But it's also because of you that I met Asia at all."

He took a breath and smiled without any joy or happiness behind it. "I could kill you right now. It wouldn't be anything to me. Isn't it amazing, how you can hate someone so much that the act of taking their life wouldn't have any meaning to you? Despite that, despite hating you so much that I want to kill you with my own hands, I'm not going to." Everyone in the room looked at him in shock, Asia in shock but also relief. "It isn't something as stupid as not wanting to sink to your level, or a fear that if I kill you I'll be just like you. It isn't even a worry that if I kill you I'll be going down a path where I become a monster that only thinks of killing his enemies. It's only because I don't want Asia to see me kill you. For such a simple reason, I'm not going to do it." He glanced over to the blonde. 'I hope you appreciate this, Asia. This is for your sake, not mine.'

He looked back down at the pathetic Fallen Angel who's expression changed to one of relief. She really thought he was done, didn't she? In a way, he could enjoy this at least. The pleasure of presenting her with the belief that she could walk out in one piece as if nothing had happened, "But that doesn't mean you're leaving here alive." and the joy of watching that belief be crushed to pieces.

"Red, do me one more favor for tonight? Show me why they call you a Ruin Princess."

Rias' looked at him in surprise before laughing. "My Pawn truly has become a greedy one. It's almost cute in a way. Very well, I'll gladly reward you with a show."

"You bastards." he heard Raynare mumble. "You think this is a game?! That this is funny?!" Raynare was screaming now, spit flying as she unleashed her tirade. "I'll kill you! I'll kill all of you! I am a Fallen Angel, the elite of the elite! You Devil scum are nothing! That nun is nothing! When I rip out her Twilight Healing I'll make you watch, boy! Then I'll take your Boosted Gear as well! You disgusting, worthless, Low-Class piece of-"

Rias stepped forward, her Power of Destruction creating a ball in her hand. Raynare stopped speaking out of fear, of the demonic power she could feel radiating off of Rias and the look on her face. She was truly angry now. "Never speak like that to him. Now disappear." An explosion and a scattering of black feathers later and Raynare was no more. The battle was finally brought to a close.

* * *

"Sooo, what now? We all just go home?" Shiki asked as the odd group walked down the street. The night had taken its toll on everyone. "Asia, you got a place to stay?"

"When I came to Japan I was told to report immediately to the Church. That's where I've stayed until now."

"Welp, can't stay there now. Anybody got any ideas here? Anybody at all?"

"She'll stay with me until we can find her more suitable lodgings. The old school building has more than enough room for two people." Rias answered.

"Problem solved. I'm going home then. If I'm not at school tomorrow just assume I'm still sleeping. Later." He began to walk off from the group, getting an amused look from the members of the Occult Research Club. Shiki sucked his teeth and turned around with a sigh. "No, wait. Before I leave I need to talk to Red." Nobody moved. "Alone." They still didn't move. " _Leave!_ " With a laugh from the ORC members, sans President, and a confused look from Asia they began walking down the street, leaving the redhead and brunette alone to whatever it was they needed to talk about.

The two stood in silence, Shiki rubbing the back of his neck. 'This is so fucking awkward. How do I trade this situation in for fighting Raynare again?' he thought. It didn't help that Rias was looking at him in complete confusion, unsure of what he wanted. "That was pretty cool. Your Power of Destruction, I mean." He was strongly considering saying the Biblical God's name until his brain just exploded.

"Thank you?" Rias half said, half asked. "Shiki, are you okay? You're acting off." Oh good, it wasn't only himself that thought he coming off really weird. "Wait, I think I know what this is about."

"You do?" he said, surprised. If she did then that would make this so much easier. It meant he didn't actually have to say anything.

"I do, and it's only fair." Okay, now she was losing him. Did she think she was owed this from him? If she did then she had another thing coming! And to think he was going to try being nice for once. "I'm sorry." _What?_

"What?"

"I said I'm sorry." Rias was the one looking anxious now, eyes looking away from him, which was fortunate because he had no idea what she was talking about and it showed on his face. "I haven't been doing my best to help or understand you. When you came to the club room for the first time and found out I had reincarnated you, you were so angry that I thought it better to leave you be, at least until you cooled down. When the days kept passing and you didn't show any signs of changing I started to get frustrated without really understanding why you were so angry to begin with." Was this really happening?

"What I said earlier tonight, about you being selfish, I apologize for that as well. I hadn't meant to take things as far as I did. You were being difficult but it wasn't for the sake of making trouble, you wanted to save Asia. Even so, despite the fact that the argument itself was a farce and I was giving you permission to save her without outright saying so, I used it to vent my own issues with you. I kept trying to force you into a mold of how I felt you should have been acting and that was wrong of me. I promise to try and be a better King." She looked him in the eyes now, blue meeting brown. "Do you accept my apology?"

Shiki couldn't help himself. He started laughing, first light giggles, then chuckles, then breaking down into complete and hysterical laughter. Of all the things for her to say, it was this? An apology? _Now?_ Of all times, _now?_ Maybe they were on the same weird wavelength. He finally got his laughter under control and looked at Rias after having doubled over in a fit.

It was not a pretty sight. Her face was red, out of embarrassment or sheer anger he couldn't tell. Her hands had balled up into fists and were shaking. She was glaring at him, looking both hurt and horribly humiliated by the fact that he had heard her apology and laughed right in her face. The killing intent though, that was particularly worrying.

"Alright, time out!" he yelled. He had already gotten a fireworks show when Rias blew Raynare into literal feathers, he'd rather avoid becoming the next target of her wrath, especially for a stupid misunderstanding. "I'm not laughing at you. Relax." That seemed to calm her down a bit. She wasn't letting off her ridiculous demonic power anymore at least. "It's more the situation than anything." She was looking at him in confusion again.

"Yeah, you're right. You didn't try to understand me. You didn't see things from my position. You thought that you were going to tell me you had brought me back to life as a servant and I'd be totally cool with it. You were more focused on what you _wanted_ me to be than anything. But… I guess I didn't make things easy for you to begin with either. Which, to be fair, was intentional. I pushed your buttons and you pushed mine and all either of us really ever got out of it were shouting matches."

"Shiki, what are you trying to say?"

"What I'm _trying_ to say is… Dammit, are you really going to make go through saying the entire thing? Look I'm sorry," he mumbled the word "sorry", "too. Alright? There. Don't ever expect me to say that again either, this was a one-time thing." He felt embarrassed. Apologies were hard. Probably why he never made any real ones before. Which might have explained his difficulty with doing one _now_ , when he actually felt it was fair to. "I'll stop giving you shit _all_ the time so long as you get off my ass about everything. We cool?" he asked, just wanting this entire experience to end.

Rias looked at him strangely before calmly walking up to him, standing within an arm's reach. "Red, you're standing a bit close. Just because I said sorry doesn't mean we're suddenly best friends. Have you heard of personal space?" Her arm began to raise. 'If she tries to slap me for laughing I'm gonna Explosion her ass into non-existence, so help me.' Pat. 'What?' She was patting him on the head, ruffling his already messy hair. "Red, what the hell? Stop that!" She smiled up at him, only a few inches of height between the two, and continued patting him. "Hey, quit it!" he said, batting her hand away.

"Sorry." Rias said, not sounding sorry in the least as she finally stopped. "It's the first time I've seen you act so cute and I couldn't resist."

"Call me cute again and I'm taking back my apology."

"How about adorable then?"

"How about I don't show up to class for the next week and tell Shitori you said it was fine?"

"Please don't, I don't have that much time to try and explain to her why you're such a problem child." she joked. "And to answer your question, yes, we're "cool"." Rias finished with a smile, glad she was finally able to reconcile to some degree with the Pawn after such a long period of butting heads with him at every turn.

"Great. I'm going home then. Later, Red."

"Wait!"

" _What?_ What is it _now?_ Isn't it bad enough we had this sappy heart-to-heart crap? Does there _really_ have to be more?"

"Aren't you going to call me Buchou?"

This time he did laugh _at_ her. "Red, I said I'd stop giving you shit all the time, not that we'd be the best of friends. And I _never_ said I was joining your club either, even after all this. Sorry, you're stuck with Red, Red. Take what you can get and be thankful. Seeya." He turned and walked away, laughing one last time as he saw Rias pout.

Walking on his own, back home, he thought about everything that had happened in this trainwreck of a day. He thought about his shiny new Boosted Gear and how eager he was to learn how to use it. He thought about how glad he was to have been able to save Asia before it was too late, before the Fallen Angels could take her Sacred Gear and her life along with it. He thought about Kiba and Koneko, who stuck their necks out for him out of worry for his safety. He thought about Freed Sellzen, insane priest currently still on the loose, and wondered when he'd show his face again. He thought about paying back Raynare for every bit of misery she inflicted, both on him and Asia, and still had a bit of regret that he hadn't been the one to kill her directly. He thought about Rias, her apology and promise to try and improve herself.

This was his life now, his new "normal".

'Meh. Could be worse.'

* * *

 **Author's Note: And so ends the Asia Rescue Arc, as I've taken to calling it in my personal story notes. I'm still not proud of my fight scenes but I hope I at least did the fight with Raynare some justice. It was intended to be a one-sided beatdown that became a race to the finish before Shiki could burn out, hopefully I conveyed that properly. He used significantly more Boosts than Issei did in canon but that's because it was an actual fight rather than a one-punch knockout and he was actively trying to kill her.**

 **The argument at the beginning of the chapter was one I particularly enjoyed writing because both sides are right. To abandon Asia to whatever fate was in store for her is wrong on just about every measurable scale. But if Raynare's splinter group actually did have the backing of the entire Fallen Angel faction then rescuing her truly could have sparked the next Great War and caused a lot of casualties. Thankfully that wasn't the case but the situation could have become a lot worse for everyone if even one thing went wrong.**

 **This chapter also had some character growth in here too, particularly on Shiki's end.** **That said, I hope I don't lose any readers for the direction I'm going in! It had always be my intention to gradually soften Shiki up just a little by the end of this arc but reading some of the reviews it looked like people wanted him to be angry for a bit longer, which I totally understand. DxD stories where the protagonist is angry at the ORC and never really becomes friends with them are rare, outside of outright bashing fics. I just don't think I'm capable of writing such a story. Even with my issues with some of their actions and taking into consideration their flaws the ORC are still characters that I like a lot.**

 **To be clear, this doesn't mean he's friends with any of them by the end of this chapter. He's not going to be trying to hang out with them or getting close to them or any of that. Right now his only friend is Asia, the rest have only leveled up from "begrudging coworkers" to "just coworkers". It's my personal belief that you don't go fighting for your lives with someone and come out not having gotten just a bit closer to them. I would define it as "not quite friendship but not actively shoving them away either". He's still not at all fine with being a servant but now that he has the means (the Boosted Gear, to be precise) to jump up the ranks and free himself he's mellowed out a small portion.**

 **Raynare's death also gives him a bit of closure. Raynare was the cause of everything in his eyes and to see her die the way she did lets him close that chapter of his life. Asia is alive, Raynare is dead, and on some level he's accepted that he's a Devil now. Not a servant, he'll never accept that, but being a Devil in and of itself. Being a Devil has given him a lot of what he wanted. He's no longer in the same boring rut as he was. He not only no longer has to hide his fights, he's fighting people that constantly challenge him. He has a goal to work towards. He has, as corny as it sounds, a real friend now. In a way, becoming a Devil has granted almost all of the wishes he had as a human. I say almost because he still has more than a few personal problems and hangups, one of which I'm sure you'll be able to spot in the earlier chapters as I made a point to bring it up and there will be a time devoted to addressing them later. That said, he's not some "tsundere" protagonist either. What he says is what he feels, for the most part at least. He's just, as most teenagers are, awkward.**

 **Anyway, that's all for now! Super long Author's Note by my standards but I felt I should clear up any possible misconceptions. I hope you enjoyed this chapter as much as I enjoyed writing it. Next chapter might be a bit later than usual for me, I felt really proud of this chapter and sent it out before finishing the next.**

* * *

 **Edit: So because guest reviews are on and I can't just respond to them normally I guess I have to do it here? The reviewer asked basically why he's softened his view on the ORC when he "hated" them for enslaving him. To begin with, "they" didn't enslave him, it was one person. For the rest of them they didn't actually _do_ anything against him, he just doesn't like them. Secondly, I never once used the word hate to describe his feelings towards any of the ORC to begin with, for a reason. He had an intense dislike for Rias for acting spoiled, bossing him around and essentially restricting his personal freedom. The rest of the ORC is collateral damage, they catch a significantly lesser amount of his distaste just because they're around.**

 **To address why he softened up towards them, which I thought I explained it's as follows. Despite the fact that he has actively been trying to piss them off they _did_ help him save Asia (Koneko and Kiba) and make sure there would be no political fallout from his actions (Rias and Akeno). That doesn't make them his friends but he is thankful to them, and as such he lightens up just the smallest bit. You bring up realism, how realistic is it to be a dickhead to a group of people when only one of them has actually done you a wrong, and then that one person goes on to apologize for acting the way they did? Again, I don't know how much I have to stress this, but it's not some thing where they became friends overnight and suddenly he's fine with all of them.**

 **As for why Shiki doesn't just bide his time and kill them all once he has enough power, what? Of all the impressions I wanted to give of my main character, homicidal maniac was not one of them. If that's how he's coming off then I should scrap everything and start from the top because that's the last thing he is. You also asked why he wouldn't just have them leave him alone once he's strong enough but I already addressed that in the second chapter at the very end. If and when he should become a High-Class Devil if he wants to walk away from the ORC and never speak to any of them ever again he's been given the go ahead to do so, if he so chooses. He's not a High-Class Devil yet and as such that option didn't suddenly become available to him.**


	6. Author's Notice

Sorry to disappoint my readers but this isn't a chapter update, just a small notice.

In the process of writing this story and the newest chapter I realized something, and that's that I'm not well equipped at the moment at writing angry protagonists, especially when they're angry at characters I'm fond of. Don't get me wrong, I love the ideas that I had for this story and I think character interactions I wrote were a lot of fun (hopefully for you guys as well). I just think I went into this too half-cocked. When you're writing a story it's too easy to get in your own head because you know where the plot is going and it gets to the point that you don't properly show things to the audience.

So, I wanted a fresh start with a different kind of protagonist. He'll still be coming with the same level snarky sarcastic quips and jokes but there will be a lot less ill-intent behind them, at least when directed at the ORC.

I apologize again to the people this disappointed. I don't want to say with one hundred percent certainty that this story is abandoned because I may one day come back to it, probably rewriting it because I don't feel that I displayed some things properly, so let's just say it's on a hiatus until further notice. Until then, my new story, "Red Dragon for a Ruin Princess" is up with its first chapter and I'd love it if you could check it out and give me feedback.


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